Nassim Assefi, a 2nd generation Iranian-American immigrant, is an internist specializing in women's health and global medicine. Most recently, she has been an academic in Seattle, a humanitarian aid worker in Kabul, and an aspiring musician in Havana. When not abroad, she lives in Seattle. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, University of Washington Medical School, and Harvard's Brigham and Women's residency program. ARIA is her first novel.