Ali received his B.S. in physics from Sharif University of Technology. As an undergrad, he was drawn to the idea of using physical models to explain living systems, and conducted research on applying reinforcement learning to a model of a micro-swimmer in low-Reynolds-number environments with Reza Ejtehadi. Pursuing his studies in the Biophysics Ph.D. program in the University of Maryland, Ali was fascinated by the world of viruses and bacteriophages, after watching a Kurzgesagt video on them, and joined the Weitz group to primarily work on phage therapy. In his free time, he likes to watch movies, play table tennis, and explore new places.