Dr. Rana Mustafa, Scholar Rescue Fund
Esteemed Food Scientist Coaches Displaced Women Toward Career Success
Dr. Rana Mustafa is a food scientist, former university professor, and research facilitator from Syria. Her passion and expertise range from developing innovative food ingredients centered on reducing hunger, promoting sustainability, and contributing to global food security to facilitating research and partnership empowering scientists to create impact beyond the academic world.
After dedicating years to teaching food engineering, the ongoing civil war in Syria eventually reduced her university, lab, and home to ruins. As the days passed, she noticed fewer of her colleagues and students make it to class alive. “You just pray that this bus will not explode,” she recalled. Realizing that her students needed more mentorship and support than she could provide, Dr. Mustafa had to make the impossible decision — either stay in war-torn Syria or seek a life elsewhere so she could continue her research and give her family a better life. She chose to live.
I thought to myself that I will die with others, or I will go do something else so I can help them.”
Dr. Rana Mustafa
After an extensive search, Dr. Mustafa finally found the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund and applied in January 2015. The fellowship would give her the opportunity to continue her research at a safe international partner institution. Recognizing Dr. Mustafa’s need and noteworthy research, IIE-SRF awarded her fellowships at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada from 2016 to 2019.
With IIE-SRF’s support, Dr. Mustafa has continued working at the university as a research facilitator, while launching and running her leadership coaching business. Inspired by her experiences as a displaced female scientist and a survivor of war and breast cancer, Dr. Mustafa founded Grow Strong Coaching with the vision of empowering science professionals to overcome obstacles in their professional lives. Grow Strong Coaching has partnered with IIE to support displaced female scientists, providing them with the resources, guidance, and encouragement they need to overcome barriers and pursue their desired career paths. Through this partnership, Dr. Mustafa will provide a series of individual and group coaching sessions for five women IIE-SRF Fellows in Canada and the U.S.
I am moving from that role of receiver to a giver.”
Dr. Rana Mustafa
Dr. Mustafa has continued to give back to the academic community, as she hoped she would when she left Syria. In 2023, she received the Newcomer Rising Leader Award from Women Helping Empower Women (WHEW), which recognized her exceptional leadership, innovation, and resilience as a role model for women. In 2024, she was also recipient of the Immigrant Woman Resilience Award from the Saskatoon Open Door Society, in recognition of her achievements and significant contributions as a scientist, volunteer, and mentor who has overcome adversity and multiple barriers in her journey.
Since 2002, IIE-SRF has provided life-saving support to more than 1,100 scholars from 62 countries in partnership with host institutions in 59 countries around the world. It is the only global program that arranges, funds, and supports fellowships for threatened and displaced scholars at partnering higher education institutions worldwide, including inside their home regions.