Data Hunter

Hengameh Raissy Has a Passion for Furthering Scientific Knowledge

University of New Mexico research professor Hengameh Raissy, PharmD, is driven by science. “I want to contribute to that knowledge, and I don't think it matters if it is a small contribution or a big contribution,” she says.

Her contributions, though, have been significant.

Raissy, who is vice chair for research in the Department of Pediatrics, as well as the director of network capacity for UNM’s Clinical & Translational Science Center, joined the School of Medicine faculty in 2001.  

After graduating from the UNM College of Pharmacy in 1999, she pursued a post-doctorate fellowship in pediatric pulmonary medicine.

Raissy was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to Albuquerque in March 1991. Her husband has lived in Albuquerque more than 40 years, and they met through family connections.

“He was a family friend and we stayed in touch and got married and moved here,” she says. “Our families are very close friends. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

Having lived here for more than half her life, Raissy says that Albuquerque felt like home from the start.

“Yes, it was definitely a huge cultural difference, but I was always surrounded by great people, wonderful friends so I never felt homesick,” Raissy says. “It was a different home from Day One.”

Coming from Iran made her aware of opportunities that other people might not appreciate, she says.

“I have been very appreciative of all the opportunities that I have had in my career,” Raissy says. “I think that has made a huge difference in where I am right now. I think my culture and where I'm coming from has allowed me to appreciate the opportunities, and my loyalty and ambition have given me the inspiration to take on a challenge.”

She says she learned early on from her lifelong mentor H. William Kelly, PharmD, that “there is no opinion when it comes to explaining the data.”

“That has been really the cornerstone of my training and what I do as a researcher, so we have to be able to explain the data,” Raissy says.

Now that she’s a mentor, she relays that to up-and-coming researchers, too.

Early in her research career, she didn’t have a particular interest in a specialty, she says, but she kept an open mind in what to pursue. Her interest in pediatric pulmonary disease began during a clinical rotation. It led to her first research project in pediatric asthma with mentor Kelly. Over the years, her asthma research has encompassed all ages, from infants to adults.

Raissy’s primary research interest is asthma pharmacotherapy in children in order to better understand and improve the care children with asthma receive.

She has served as the principal investigator for the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute-funded AsthmaNet and CARE Network at UNM. These networks have designed multisite clinical trials to explore new approaches to asthma therapy in children and adults, in addition to mechanistic studies to learn about the pathogenesis of asthma from infancy to adulthood. Asthma is the most common chronic condition among children.

Raissy would really like to see misinformation surrounding COVID-19 eradicated.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health situation, and I wish we all could put everything else aside and just focus on that,” she says.

She’s currently co-principal investigator for the RECOVER study, a research initiative from the National Institutes of Health that seeks to understand, prevent and treat post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2, including Long COVID. She and her colleagues will be enrolling New Mexicans, including Hispanic and Native American people, who have been hit especially hard by the virus.

Raissy also is the co-principal investigator for the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes IDeA States Pediatric Clinical Trials Network at UNM.

She explains that the network’s mission is to create the capacity to conduct multi-center research that ensures that children living in rural or underserved communities are included in clinical trials. Providing children access to these clinical trials will help answer important questions that will result in health benefits, she says.

When she’s not steeped in a research project, Raissy enjoys traveling, reading a good book and spending time with friends.

“At the end of a long week, there is nothing better than entertaining a few friends for dinner and having a great conversation,” she says.

Her friends are lucky, because it’s also when Raissy cooks up Persian dishes. “I try to introduce some of the Persian cooking to my friends so they get to experience something different,” she says.

Her gatherings begin with a promise to not talk about work – but she can’t help but talk about her work in science, she says.

"During this unprecedented time, it is essential more than ever to talk about science and to move the research forward," Raissy says, even if it’s at a dinner party.