In 2002, Şule Mene established Turkey’s first clinical research center, Mene Research,
which has since become internationally renowned.
Şule first realized that she wanted to pursue a career in research and development while working in Kurucaşile, near the Black Sea in Turkey, as a doctor. After completing her MBA at Harvard Business School, she founded Mene Research in 2002 and has been actively engaged in research in countries like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iran and Israel ever since.
For her contributions to health research, training and consultancy, Şule was honored with the Turkey’s Women Entrepreneur Award from Garanti Bank in 2016. She hopes this exposure will help attract additional R&D money into Turkey and help her expand her own business in the region, as well as continue her work in the U.S. and Europe.
According to Şule, support and encouragement like that provided from the Garanti award program is key to success: “It is very important that your environmental conditions support [entrepreneurship].”