Take 6: Sherine Abdelmawla, Akanocure Pharmaceuticals

Sherine Abdelmawla, co-founder and CEO, Akanocure Pharmaceuticals. (Photo provided by Sherine Abdelmawla)

Sherine Abdelmawla is co-founder and CEO of Akanocure Pharmaceuticals, a drug development company in the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette. She also is a member of the National Small Business Association’s Small Business Technology Council and Leadership Council.

Sherine is a champion of SBIR and STTR grants awarded by federal agencies to small businesses. With Congress needing to vote to continue the grants program by September 30, she has shared her insights with statewide business media.

Abdelmawla generously shared her time to answer some of our questions.

Sherine Abdelmawla with her husband Mohammad Noshi at the Indianapolis Public Library. (Photo provided by Sherine Abdelmawla)

Question: Has there ever been a time when other people were telling you to give up, but you persisted?

Sherine Abdelmawla: Well, if I had a penny for every time someone told me to give up …! From pursuing a career in the medical fields, to pursuing a Ph.D. in the United States thousands of miles away from home, to starting a drug development company, etc. However, I read a saying once and it is one of few sayings I live by, “It is O.K. to be ridiculed now and vindicated later.”

Sherine Abdelmawla speaking during her TEDxPurdueUSalon talk. (Photo provided by Sherine Abdelmawla)

Q: If you could invite any six people to a dinner party, living or dead, who would they be?

Abdelmawla: Nikola Tesla, Einstein, Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, Katherine Johnson, and Lise Meitner.

Q: How would you summarize your research in one sentence?

Abdelmawla: My research is all dedicated to easing the suffering of cancer patients.

Q: How do you decompress after a long day?

Abdelmawla: Spending time doing something fun with my kids. We all gather to watch a movie; Marvel if they have their way or comedy if I have my way! We also love to gather around a 1,000-piece puzzle or a game of Clue while discussing our day, or maybe over a game of chess if my husband promises to let me win. 😊

Sherine Abdelmawla at an event to encourage girls to read books about and by female entrepreneurs. The event was sponsored by Akanocure Pharmaceuticals, Purdue Foundry, WomenIN and others. Sherine said Darth Vader and other Star Wars characters “showed up out of nowhere, not organized by us at all. They took photos with all the girls, which made their day.” (Photo provided by Sherine Abdelmawla)

Q: If you could snap your fingers and eliminate one barrier in your field, what would it be?

Abdelmawla: The long and complicated regulatory pathways for drug approval.

Q: What is one thing in your life you use every day and couldn’t live without?

Abdelmawla: My phone.

Sherine Abdelmawla and Mohammad Noshi at Niagara Falls in Canada. Sherine said, “I thought that rainbow behind us was symbolic because 20 years later, we have a family and a company together.” (Photo provided by Sherine Abdelmawla)

Thank you again Sherine Abdelmawla for participating in Take 6!

Visit Akanocure Pharmaceuticals’ website to learn about its mission to find therapeutic approaches that block metastatic process, or processes that spread cancer cells to surrounding tissues and distant organs.

Read an August 2021 post on The Line about Akanocure Pharmaceuticals to learn about its focus, innovations and Purdue connections.

Visit the federal government’s SBIR and STTR website to learn about Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs meant to encourage research and development in domestic small businesses.