Bana Alamad
DPhil Candidate, MPhil, BS
Third-year DPhil candidate in Genomic Medicine and Statistics studying the genetics and epigenetics basis of immune response to COVID-19 vaccination. I am a part of the COVIG project at the Knight and Mentzer-Hill groups and was heavily involved in sampling participants for this study. My research dissects reasons behind differences in vaccine waning over time, and the relationship between obesity, among other comorbidities, and vaccine response.
I am very passionate about understanding the genetic basis of disease in diverse ethnic populations, especially Middle Eastern populations, and I continuously look for ways to increase the representation of Arab populations in genomics literature.
Before coming to Oxford, I completed my MPhil in Genomic Medicine at the University of Cambridge as the first woman to ever receive the Bseisu-Cambridge scholarship for exceptional Middle Eastern students in Science. I also obtained a Bachelor of Science and a minor in Visual Arts from New York University in Abu Dhabi.
I merge my interests in science and arts by creating science communications and public engagement events and activities with the Knight group.