Zayna was born and raised in Morocco, and moved to Paris for her undergrad studies in 2008. She is a bio-engineer by training (AgroParisTech) and did her PhD at University Paris Cité on the regulation of adult brain regeneration during aging by insulin like growth factor 1 and growth hormone signalling. She then moved to Basel for her postdoc in Prof. Fiona Doetsch’s lab, where she got really interested in the possible physiological relevance of adult neurogenesis in different contexts. She started her independent group in July 2024 at IGFL, supported by the FRM, ATIP and ERC starting grant.
Besides science, Zayna is a big soccer fan, enjoys playing piano and jogging!