Rayyanah Barnawi

A biomedical researcher with almost a decade of experience in cancer stem-cell research, Rayyanah Barnawi worked to facilitate Saudi Arabia’s scientific research as mission specialist aboard Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2). Barnawi made history as the first Saudi female astronaut to go to space and one of the first Saudi astronauts to visit the ISS. During the Ax-2 mission, Baranwi focused her attention on stem cell and breast cancer research.

Born in September 1988 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Barnawi has multiple degrees in biomedical sciences. She holds a Master of Biomedical Sciences from Alfaisal University in Saudi Arabia, and a Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences from Otago University in New Zealand.

Barnawi has spent over nine years as a research lab technician for the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Program at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She has had various technical and research responsibilities.

In 2014, she participated in wingsuit flying training in Dubai, and in 2022, she completed centrifuge and hypoxic training in Saudi Arabia.

Outside of her professional career, Barnawi is an outdoor and sports enthusiast participating in adventures around the world. From scuba diving in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia, hang gliding, ledge swinging, river in New Zealand, to hiking and rafting in Türkiye, and much more.