Meet 2025 Award Recipient
Dania Figueroa Acosta
Dania earned her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, where she majored in Biochemistry and minored in Italian Studies. Following graduation, she completed a postbaccalaureate research fellowship at NIAID’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML). In 2019, she began her graduate training at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Dania has long been committed to advancing equity and inclusion in STEM. At Wellesley, her advocacy led to the creation of a fellowship that provides both academic credit and a stipend to support low-income students pursuing thesis research. During her postbaccalaureate fellowship at RML, she co-founded a diversity and inclusion subcommittee, earning her a NIAID Merit Award for her efforts. Finally, at Sinai, she co-authored a proposal to compensate students engaged in anti-racism work, advocated for representation of PREP students, and helped build a sense of community between junior and senior trainees.
Beyond academic settings, Dania has continued to uplift and inspire others through public engagement. She has spoken at institutional town halls and served as a featured Latina scientist for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino ¡Descubra! Meet the Science Expert series.
Dania is incredibly grateful to the incredible women in her family—especially her mother, who taught her never to give up and that things are always better than they seem.