Friday June 19, 2026
New Pharmacy PhD grad Fadumo Isse has followed her educational dreams all the way from Somalia, to the University of Alberta, but has always found strength in her connection to home. (Photo: Alex Pugliese)
Edmonton, Canada (HOL) — Somali-born researcher Dr. Fadumo Isse has graduated with a PhD from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and is beginning postdoctoral work focused on women’s heart health.
Isse, who grew up in Somalia before studying in Jordan and later Canada, said her family sometimes affectionately calls her “stubborn” because of her lifelong commitment to education.
She added: “Maybe ‘determined’ is more appropriate.”
That determination has taken Isse from Somalia to Jordan University of Science and Technology, where she studied pharmacy, and then to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where she completed graduate studies in pharmaceutical sciences.
Her PhD and postdoctoral supervisor, Dr. Ayman El-Kadi, described her as an exceptionally motivated and independent researcher.
“She combines strong critical thinking with outstanding productivity, producing an impressive number of publications and presentations during her graduate training,” said El-Kadi, a professor and associate dean of research in the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Isse said her father, who died 10 years ago, was one of her greatest sources of encouragement. He pushed her to complete high school, attend university and consider graduate studies.
“He was always the big motivator in my life to be an educated person,” she said.
At 18, Isse left Somalia on a scholarship to study at Jordan University of Science and Technology, more than 5,000 miles from home. She entered a six-year doctor of pharmacy program and said she quickly discovered a passion for studying how medicines work at the molecular level.
“I figured out this is my field. I loved it. It is wonderful when you start something and then you realize, ‘Wow, I have huge passion in this area.’ That’s how it played out for me.”
Her next move took her to Canada with support from a University of Alberta scholarship and the World University Service of Canada. She arrived in Edmonton in late summer and soon faced the challenges of adapting to a new country, language, weather and academic system.
“Volunteers helped us to get educated about winter and how to dress and prepare us, but still we were in shock,” she recalls. “The first winter was the hardest. Then you get familiar with the next winter and now we are OK. But everything is different — how to get groceries, how to commute from your place.”
Isse began her master’s degree in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Sherif Mahmoud, associate professor and associate dean academic for pharmacy, as well as an adjunct with the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.
(Photo: Alex Pugliese)
He put her to work studying nimodipine, the standard treatment given for hemorrhagic stroke patients.
“I was investigating how we can optimize the delivery of that drug so the patients can have better outcomes,” she said.
She said the project confirmed her passion for research.
“That’s when I confirmed my passion for research,” Isse remembers. “I loved figuring out unknown questions about my project. I loved generating data and translating it and linking it to improving care for real-world patients in critical care.”
In 2021, she began her PhD under El-Kadi, whose lab studies how lipid metabolism affects the cardiovascular system.
Isse’s doctoral research focused on developing analytical techniques to measure lipid metabolites and better understand their role in cardiovascular disease.
“A huge part of my thesis was about developing analytical techniques or assays that can measure lipid metabolites,” Isse notes. “I am so proud of the techniques that I developed to quantify them and help us understand the role of these metabolites in cardiovascular disease.”
Her research team recently published work identifying a way to activate a genetic pathway that helps the heart remain healthy and flexible even under dangerously high blood pressure.
Isse received several awards during her doctoral studies, including the President’s Doctoral Prize of Distinction, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Canada Graduate Scholarship, Doctoral and the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship.
She has also won a CIHR Postdoctoral Research Award and an Alberta Innovates Postdoctoral Fellowship, allowing her to continue research in El-Kadi’s lab for the next three years.
Her postdoctoral work will focus on women’s heart health, particularly the role of menopause in cardiac hypertrophy, a thickening of the heart muscle.
“When women start to go into menopause, they lose the cardioprotective effect of estrogen, so they are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease,” Isse said.
El-Kadi said her work on sex-specific cardiovascular disease mechanisms and analytical methods has already made important contributions to the field.
“Combined with her leadership and resilience, these experiences position her for an outstanding career as a pharmacy researcher,” he said.
Isse hopes to one day become a university faculty member and continue a career in research.
She said graduate school taught her resilience, patience and adaptability, as well as how to break down complex problems and solve them.
“It’s a beautiful journey that teaches you resilience, patience and adaptability,” she says. “It’s not a smooth process, but it’s so rewarding as a person. I know I now have the critical thinking to take every problem, break it into pieces and solve it eventually.”
Beyond the lab, Isse has volunteered with the University of Alberta’s International Student and Visitor Services, served as vice-president of the Pharmacy Graduate Student Association and helped Edmonton’s Islamic Family and Social Services Association during the COVID-19 pandemic.
El-Kadi described her as collaborative, compassionate and committed to mentorship and community service.
Isse said she often encourages younger siblings and other Somali students to keep pursuing education.
“I always tell them, ‘You can do it. Nothing is impossible. You just have to have the passion to continue,’” she said.
In the 15 years since leaving Somalia to study abroad, Isse has returned home only once. Most of her family still lives in Somalia, and she speaks with her mother and sisters daily despite the nine-hour time difference.
She said she misses Somali traditions and language and hopes to bring her mother to Canada for a visit.
“She may not really understand how I live here, but she tells me, ‘I pray for you and I’m so proud of you,’” Isse said. “That’s her way of expressing love, by supporting me and praying for me.”
