Harvard Medical School (2023-2025). Instructor in Medicine / Research faculty

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (2017-2023). Postdoctoral fellow Neuroendocrinology

University of Strasbourg (2011-2017). Ph. D in Neurosciences Neurobiology of rhythms

University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah - Joint PhD (2011-2017). Ph. D in Neurosciences Neurobiology of rhythms

University of Ibn Tofail (2009-2011). M.S in Neurosciences, Pharmacology and Genetics Neuroscience Major

University of Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (2009). B.S in Biology

I’m a neuroscientist fascinated by how the brain integrates signals from our metabolic and reproductive systems. This question has driven my research from the beginning.

I grew up in the beautiful Fez, Morocco, where I earned my B.S in Biology and M.S in Neuroscience before moving to Europe for my Ph. D in Neuroscience at the University of Strasbourg, France. Under the mentorship of Drs. Seloua El Ouezzani and Valerie Simoneaux, I investigated how reproductive neuropeptides, Kiss1 and RFRP-3, regulate seasonal feeding and fertility in hibernating rodents. This work sparked my fascination with the bidirectional dialogue between reproduction and metabolism. I then moved to Boston, in the United States, for my postdoctoral training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School to further deepen this focus, where I worked with Dr. Victor Navarro to explore the interactions between Kiss1 and melanocortin neurons, the central regulators of reproduction and energy balance. We uncovered novel pathways at the interface of these two critical systems, revealing how they coordinate to control both fertility and energy expenditure.

My research explores how the brain integrates metabolic and reproductive signals to maintain physiological balance. I investigate how disruptions in energy balance, ranging from undernutrition and anorexia nervosa to obesity, compromise reproductive function, and how reproductive signals such as neuropeptides and sex hormones, in turn, shape metabolic outcomes.

Moreover, as a female scientist, I am deeply committed to advancing women’s health by uncovering the brain pathways linking reproductive dysfunction to metabolic disturbances in conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome, hypothalamic amenorrhea and menopause.