What did you optimize for when choosing the first position outside the clinical path? What are the challenges that M.D.s could encounter when leaving clinical medicine? What is the role of immigrant mentality in building risk tolerance? Dr. Shehnaaz answers!

Dr. Shehnaaz Suliman is a visionary physician, drug developer, and dealmaker with over 25 years of experience reshaping the biotech landscape. She is C.E.O. and board member at ReCode Therapeutics, an integrated genetic medicines company located in California that works on developing disease-modifying therapeutics using its powerful L.N.P. delivery technology to target organs and tissues beyond the liver. She was formerly president and C.O.O. at Alector, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Her professional experience began in 2001. Since then, Shehnaaz has changed six roles and seven companies, such as Theravance Biopharma, Genentech, Roche Partnering, Gilead Sciences, Lehman Brothers and Petkevich & Partners, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, and 10X Genomics.

Dr. Suliman received her M.D. from the University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa. She also holds an M.B.A., with distinction, and an M.Phil. in development studies from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She was named one of the 2017 Fiercest Women in Life Sciences and one of the National Diversity Council’s Power 50 in 2021 (Most Influential Women in Business). Recently, Shehnaaz was featured on the 2023 Forbes 50 over 50 and was recognized as the 2023 Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal.