Samantha Avina graduated with her B.S in biochemistry from Hawai’i Pacific University and is a Ph.D. candidate at Rutgers University School of Graduate Studies, Public Health Research Institute. Her work focuses on fungal pathogenesis and vaccine development against Cryptococcus neoformans. In the research community, she is a passionate advocate for the advancement of historically underrepresented minorities in the biomedical/microbial sciences.