Abtsam is a Ph.D. student in Islamic studies in the Study of Religion with a Data Science secondary field. Her research examines questions surrounding religion, technology, and transnationalism, and focuses on Islamic education and authority in online contexts. Through her research and fellowships, she has explored a range of issues related to digitality, disinformation, surveillance, the ethical use of AI, and the intersections of law and technology.

Abtsam is currently an Outreach Student Fellow for the Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School. She was previously an Assembly Student Fellow at the Berkman Klein Center, the Managing Editor of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and a Science, Religion, and Culture Junior Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. She received her B.A. with honors from the City University of New York Hunter College and a M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School.