About

Dr. Ben Dhaou is a vascular scientist currently conducting research in the United States, where she studies how blood vessels respond to stress, inflammation, and metabolic disruption. Her work focuses on integrin signaling, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and vascular inflammation in the context of atherosclerosis, while also investigating liver dysfunction and metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). She is also a collaborator on a NASA-sponsored project examining the impact of space-relevant ionizing radiation on neuroinflammatory signaling and synaptic remodeling within the craniofacial sensory network—bridging terrestrial biology with the frontiers of space medicine.

In 2025, she was selected as an Astronaut Candidate with Titans Space Industries, a private organization preparing research-driven missions aboard the Titans Genesis spaceplane and OrbitalPort space station. As part of the inaugural cohort in 2029, she will undergo a multi-year training program ahead of a series of microgravity research missions, marking her as the first Tunisian research scientist chosen for this role.

Cyrine holds two PhDs: one in Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences from the ULB (Brussels, Belgium), and another in Life Sciences and Health from the University of Tours (Tours, France). Prior to her doctoral studies, she studied forensic medicine at the University of Lorraine (Nancy, France). She also earned a Master’s degree in Biology of Aging from Paris Descartes University (Paris, France). Her education and training span five countries across three continents, and her broad academic foundation encompasses forensic medicine, aging, neurogenesis, cancer biology, vascular biology and metabolism.

She presented her research at leading scientific venues across Europe, North America, and North Africa such as the Gordon Research Conference, the North American Vascular Biology Organization conference, the American Heart Association’s Vascular Discovery Conference, and the Vascular Research Initiatives Conference. Her work has been recognized with numerous international honors and awards, including the the David and Alice Van Buuren Foundation Award (2021, Belgium) and the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World program by Junior Chamber International, where she was named among the top 20 in the world (2023). She has also received travel awards (2023, 2024), best poster prizes (2023, 2025), and the Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow of the year (2024). Dr. Ben Dhaou has been awarded several prestigious fellowships throughout her career, including FRS-FNRS Télévie (2017–2021; Belgium), Malcolm Feist Cardiovascular Research Fellowship (2024–2026; United States) Mitacs Globalink (2016; Canada), Erasmus Plus (2015; France), the France–Quebec Council for University Cooperation (2016; France), Mobicentre (2016; France), and a regional travel grant from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (2021; Belgium).

As a mentor, she leads the Career Development Committee of the Postdoctoral Association where she works, supporting the next generation of researchers through hands-on guidance and training.

But her work goes beyond the lab. Cyrine is one of the few PhD-trained scientists to consistently create structured, evidence-based scientific content in Arabic. Her goal is to break down complex medical and scientific concepts and make them understandable, practical, and relevant to everyday life. Through her platform, Dr. VoySci, she has built a vibrant community of over 400,000 followers, with educational videos that have accumulated more than 30 million views, covering topics like cardiovascular disease, cancer, liver disease, neuroscience, and misinformation in health. She is also a featured member of the World Health Organization’s Fides Project, a global initiative that supports trusted health communicators in the fight against misinformation.

Fluent in Arabic, French, English and dabbles in German, italian and Romanian, Dr. Ben Dhaou brings a rare combination of scientific rigor, global perspective, and public engagement. Her work transcends borders, languages, and disciplines, embodying a new model of what it means to be a 21st-century scientist.