Simi Ahmed was born in Bangladesh and grew internationally, including having done some elementary and high schooling in Dhaka, which she sees as pivotal periods in her life. She was born to an academic family, and while not a traditional academic herself, her career path has been rooted in the pursuit and application of science towards therapies. Simi is an immunologist by training and in her range of endeavors has conducted both bench and programmatic science and in recent years has led strategic portfolio development for curative therapies, first with the JDRF and more recently with NYSCF (pronounced naisef), each of which are disease research and cure focused organizations based in NYC.