Biography
Dr. Noor Al-Sharif
AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow
Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings
Directorate for STEM Education
Class of 2024-2026
Dr. Noor Al-Sharif is a neuroscientist and informal STEM educator. Her academic experience centers around the use of neuroimaging and neuroinformatic techniques to understand the human brain and its behavior. She most recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the department of neurology at the UCLA School of Medicine, where she employed neuroimaging and neurocognitive measures to assess clinical treatment of severe depression. Previously, Al-Sharif conducted her doctoral research on mapping pediatric brain development in a healthy population and worked as a research assistant in two neuroimaging labs at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, studying brain structure heritability in psychiatric disorders and developing neuroimaging software.
Al-Sharif is passionate about science outreach and public engagement and as a graduate student led two informal STEM teaching initiatives at McGill University: BrainReach Elementary and the McGill Summer Academy. She was a member of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) Education Committee for four years, reviewing submissions for OHBM’s international conference educational courses. Al-Sharif also facilitated a Girls Who Code club at her local high school and hopes to continue a career that engages underrepresented communities in STEM education. Al-Sharif has a doctorate in neuroscience from McGill University and received her Bachelor of Science with honors in neuroscience from the University of Manchester. In her non-science time, Al-Sharif spends her days gardening, rock climbing, pickling, and pursuing various fiber arts.