Celia Ayad

Celia is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Barouch Laboratory at the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on applying machine learning to accelerate vaccine discovery and design for various infections such as TB and H5N1, and to understand the immune responses to infections such as HIV and SIV, bridging the fields of machine learning, immunology, and virology. Her work is part of the broader efforts of her PI, Dr. Dan Barouch, and the laboratory to study the immunology and pathogenesis of viral infections, and to develop novel vaccine and treatment strategies.

Celia holds a Master’s degree in Machine Learning from Paris Descartes University and a Ph.D. in Explainable Machine Learning from École Polytechnique in France. She is passionate about leveraging the power of deep learning in vaccine discovery research while expanding her understanding of immunology and virology sciences.

Outside the lab, she is a sci-fi fan, enjoys connecting with nature and exploring ancient history.