Ali was born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Notre Dame for her undergraduate studies, where she worked on rhodium and copper-catalyzed cycloadditions under the direction of Dr. Brandon Ashfeld. During the summer of her junior year, she worked for Dr. Sarah Reisman at Caltech as an Amgen Scholar. Outside of lab, Ali enjoys exercising, playing Catan, and watching the Great British Baking Show.