Mariam was born in Paris, France, of Ivorian parents. After returning to Côte d'Ivoire, her family began an odyssey of emigration that took them to Kenya for three years before they settled in Minnesota when Mariam was 13.
Mariam obtained her MD and PhD in infectious disease epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University with the support of the Fellowship. She completed residency in emergency medicine at Mass General Brigham in Boston. She continues to pursue her passion for global health as a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Public Health and attending physician in emergency medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.