Dr. Fayyad successfully defends dissertation

Dec. 11, 2025

Rawan Fayyad, Ph.D., defended her dissertation this month and has earned her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences with a concentration in medicinal chemistry.

Six people, including a student in formal business attire who has just completed her dissertation defense, smile together for a photo in front of a chalkboard with computational medicinal chemistry formulas written on it. — Rawan Fayyad, Ph.D., (third from left) and her advisor Umesh Desai, Ph.D., (third from right) smile for a photo alongside her dissertation committee (from left) Yana Cen, Ph.D., Masahiro Sakagami, Ph.D., Martin Safo, Ph.D., and Bhaumik Patel, Ph.D., after successfully defending her dissertation.

Ph.D. candidate Rawan Fayyad, advised by Umesh Desai, Ph.D., successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation, "Drug Like Properties of Synthetic Glycosaminoglycan Mimetics," on Dec. 2. Her dissertation spanned a wide range of areas, including physicochemical properties, CMC (exhaustive characterization using RP-IP ESI-MS/MS and HR-MS), rodent pharmacokinetics and toxicology (in vivo dose toleration, CYP inhibition, bleeding effects).

The committee – Yana Cen, Ph.D., Masahiro Sakagami, Ph.D., Martin Safo, Ph.D., and Bhaumik Patel, Ph.D. – shared that they appreciated the breadth of work performed within a relatively short time.

Dr. Fayyad is an analytical chemist with an emphasis on HPLC, UPLC-MS/MS and HR-MS. She hopes to settle in Research Triangle Park (RTP) near Raleigh, N.C., and seek out a pharma/bioincubator position there. Congratulations, Dr. Fayyad!