Dr. Talia Mota is an adventurer, a scientist, a professor, and a writer. Mota holds a Bachelor of Science in Genetics with a minor in Studio Art, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and a PhD in Molecular Virology with a focus on HIV. She has dedicated her life to fighting HIV and AIDS—she has volunteered in Cambodia, India, and Botswana with women and children living with HIV; was a Science Curator for HIV Science as Art with a gallery opening in Australia; and is an activist fighting HIV criminalization. She recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship in the Immunology of HIV Cure at Weill Cornell Medicine. Currently, she is a professor at NYU, teaching Life Science and Astrophysics. She's also writing a science fiction novel with a focus on the trauma and mental health of a new interstellar human species.