Israa Elbashir obtained her BSc degree in Biomedical Sciences from Qatar University in 2017. She then pursued her Master's degree in Genomics and Precision medicine at HBKU. During her master's research project, she evaluated the infectivity, viral kinetics, and genome evolution of different influenza viruses. After graduation, she joined the Infectious Disease Division at Qatar University's Biomedical Research Center, as a Research Assistant and was involved in sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 virus early in the pandemic. Following which, she worked as a Research Assistant in the College of Medicine at Qatar University, investigating the virucidal effects of different drugs, algae, and Manuka honey on SARS-CoV-2. In 2021, she trained briefly at QBRI on a project to identify protein damage biomarkers for ASD using LC-MS.