From sales to executive strategy, Quita Highsmith’s has ascended through the ranks at Genentech throughout her 16-year tenure.
Highsmith, who’s the current Vice President and Head of the Population Health Center of Excellence, leads population health initiatives. During her tenure at Genentech, she’s aimed to turn scientific breakthroughs into better health outcomes.
“Scientific innovation alone does not improve health outcomes,” she tells HealthStack. “Patients must be able to access, navigate and fully benefit from the care they deserve.”
On Confidence In The Right Environment
Highsmith, who proudly wears her natural hair in an afro, credits authenticity as the main factor behind her corporate success. She explains that rejecting archaic expectations of professionalism and growing in confidence allowed her to reach her full potential.
“Once I stopped trying to fit into the perception of what professionalism looks like, and no longer cared what people thought about the way I speak and wear my natural hair, I started to achieve more success,” Highsmith says.
This grounding perspective also shaped her approach to leadership. “Because I am an authentic leader and team member, I am free to focus on delivering results, as opposed to concerns about superficial items that take up mental space and do not help me solve problems.”
For her, an inclusive environment where “employees feel accepted, valued, heard and trusted,” is at the core of nurturing high performance. Highsmith says by “taking responsibility for speaking up, challenging the status quo, and stepping in where others haven’t” she’s been able to cultivate a better outcome for her patients.
Transforming Outcomes At Genentech
Highsmith launched Genentech’s Advancing Inclusive Research initiative after seeing an urgent need for equality in testing groups. The effort challenged long-standing biopharmaceutical myths that recruiting Black and Hispanic/Latinx participants for clinical trials was not worth the effort.
“Our goal is to build a more representative and effective research system, and ultimately make representative research the standard, not the exception,” she explains.
The Alliance works to ensure that research studies include a broad spectrum of patients.
“Its partners consistently enroll Black and Hispanic/Latinx patients more than twice as fast as other sites participating in the same studies, shattering the ‘Too Hard, Too Slow’ recruitment myth and demonstrating that inclusive research can improve both representation and performance,” she says.
The Advancing Inclusive Research Site Alliance has grown from four oncology sites to more than 30 sites across different therapeutic areas. However, her impact on population health extends beyond trial recruitment.
Focus On Health
Highsmith is spearheading discussions on how health professionals can use AI responsibly and beneficially for all patients. She believes that technology’s true value depends entirely on how thoughtfully professionals integrate it across the healthcare ecosystem.
She emphasizes that medical professionals can only achieve the full benefit of AI technology through intentional design. Highsmith adds it needs to have collective building and ongoing refinement as well.
“Realizing that potential requires building equity, transparency and accountability into these tools from the beginning,” she tells HealthStack. “AI is only as reliable as the data that inform it, and gaps in those data can produce gaps in performance. Developers must assess whether their data and imaging reflect the communities these tools are intended to serve. They also must continually monitor how AI systems perform across different patient populations after deployment.”
At her core, Highsmith believes AI’s role in medicine is complementary rather than substitutive.
“AI should complement human scientific and clinical expertise—not replace it,” she says. “Responsible innovation means pairing AI’s capabilities with strong oversight, ongoing evaluation and the perspectives of the people it is intended to benefit.”
Defining Success
Reflecting on the programs she has built to improve health outcomes, Highsmith emphasizes that execution is key. She explains that success in healthcare means translating long-term vision into measurable results.
“Patients must be able to access, navigate and fully benefit from the care they deserve,” says Highsmith. “My experience across functions has taught me that a long-term vision must connect strategy with execution. Lasting progress requires bringing different capabilities, perspectives and partners together around a shared goal.”
Highsmith measures success through four strategic priorities: expanding access, connecting high-need communities with the right support, building lasting partnerships and improving health literacy. She explains focus on tangible outcomes drives career advancement.
When it comes to excelling professionally and driving meaningful change, Highsmith’s advice to rising talent begins with operational excellence. She urges professionals to keep their core responsibilities top of mind rather than getting distracted by secondary pursuits.
“My number one piece of advice is simple: do your job. Performance counts,” Highsmith says. “Some people become so focused on work outside the scope of their role that they underdeliver on the work they were hired to do. Focus on delivering results. Around here, we bring receipts to prove that doing this work drives measurable outcomes for our business and our patients.”
Know Your Why
While Highsmith holds herself and others accountable for performance, she also believes in keeping personal life a priority.
Years ago, Highsmith missed her daughter’s middle-school graduation for a business trip to Barcelona.
“When I returned, she said, ‘Mom, I missed you and I needed you.’ That conversation broke my heart, and I never missed an important family engagement again,” she recalls. Highsmith jokingly adds, “Now, I did have to take her to Barcelona twice after that.”
Being present for her family is essential to how she defines success, protects her health and sustains a long career.
“I often say that the job will not hug you at night,” Highsmith explains. “This is one of the most important lessons in my life, and it came from my daughter.”
