Ayisha Khalid
DPhil student
Ayisha began her DPhil in Population Health in 2024, supervised by Dr Joris Hemelaar and supported by the Oxford Population Health Scholarship. Her research aims to understand the differential global distribution of HIV genetic diversity over time and the contribution of various social factors, such as migration and infrastructure, to this distribution using molecular, demographic, and geospatial data.
Prior to joining Oxford, Ayisha worked as an epidemiologist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control to surveil respiratory pathogens and estimate influenza and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Ayisha also worked on infectious and zoonotic diseases as an epidemiologist during internships with the Public Health Agency of Canada and BlueDot.
Ayisha completed her BHSc in Health and Society (Honours) from the University of Calgary and her MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto. Throughout her academic and work experiences, Ayisha has led research across a range of topics, including zoonoses, vaccine effectiveness, telemedicine, and migrant health, co-authoring over 10 peer-reviewed publications to date. Ayisha’s efforts were recognised most recently by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the Dignitas International Global Health Research Award for Student Excellence.