Alumni profile

Dr Hala Raghib is a remarkable young achiever through her career in medical research and innovation in animal-free drug testing.

A Kuwaiti-born Palestinian, Hala's journey from arriving in Australia as a non-English speaking 12 year old, to award-winning cardiovascular researcher is testament to her strength of character and determination.

Hala’s research has been inspired by her twin passions – her love of animals and addressing her family’s history of heart disease. She developed a testing system that predicts what effect non-cardiovascular drugs will have on the heart. 

Her research has been completed using human cells, rather than animal cells, pioneering a technique which holds the potential to significantly reducing the use of animals in pharmacological testing. Her results are widely acknowledged by the scientific community as being superior to animal models, providing better predictability of the drug effects on humans.

Her achievements have been acknowledged with awards including the Young Arab Australian Achiever’s Award in Science (2005) and the Australian Museum Eureka Prize (2007). She was listed as one of Melbourne’s Top 100 Most Powerful and Innovative Personalities (scientific and personal achievement) in The Age Magazine (2007).

Hala holds multiple degrees from La Trobe, including a Bachelor of Medical Science with honours, a Diploma Business Administration and an MBA. 

Hala now combines lecturing at the Australian Catholic University with a career in the pharmaceutical industry. She is currently CEO of Orpharma.

Distinguished Science

Last updated: 1st May 2019