Dr. Dora Iliana Medina holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge, a Master's in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Riverside, and a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering from the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Her thesis work at Cambridge was highly commended in the Sellafield Ltd Award for Engineering Excellence (IChemE Awards), and she was invited as a Keynote Speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Polymer Processing Society. At the University of Cambridge, she also obtained an Entrepreneurship Certificate from the Cambridge Judge Business School.

Subsequently, Dr. Medina moved to MIT as a UNESCO-L’ORÉAL “For Women in Science” International Fellow. She was selected as a L'Oréal-UNESCO International Rising Talent by an international selection committee of renowned scientists. The program awards the 15 most promising young women scientists from around the world each year, recognizing their excellence and supporting their potential to shape the future of science.

At MIT, Dr. Medina worked in the Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory in the Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics Research Group of the Mechanical Engineering Department. She has led research and/or consultancy projects for companies, universities, governments, and multinational organizations.

Dr. Medina is a member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) – Level 2, vice-president of MIT Alumni Mexico, group leader of the University of Cambridge NVWG, and an active member of various academic and research boards. She continues to collaborate on scientific research with national and international institutions such as the University of Cambridge, MIT (where she was awarded the MIT-MISTI Global Seed Fund), the University of Waterloo, Cinvestav, UNAM, and Ecole Centrale de Nantes.