Alia's work focuses on violence and power within the criminal legal system, with a focus on sexual violence and the experiences of incarcerated women. She is also interested in social movements, particularly organizing and solidarity-building inside carceral facilities.

Alia has conducted research with the Columbia Justice Lab, the Brennan Center for Justice, and ArchCity Defenders, among others, and works as a sexual violence crisis response advocate at Wyckoff Height Medical Center. She is a Public Interest/Public Service and Hamilton fellow at Columbia Law School and Paul F. Lazarsfeld fellow in sociology. Alia earned her BA in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Sociology from Washington University in St. Louis and an MA in Sociology from Columbia University.

Her research interests include movement and organizing networks, incarcerated public opinion and political action, legal advocacy and movement lawyering, and women, gender, and Black feminism.