THE SCIENCE OF FIRSTS

When HPU alumna Samantha Avina, Ph.D., chose HPU for her undergraduate studies, she had never set foot in Hawai‘i. The leap felt bold and a little surreal, an ocean away from La Puente, California, Avina’s parents urged her right away to go and explore. "Have an adventure," her father, Joseph said. A first‑generation college student, Avina understood that every step would ripple beyond herself. What began as a single boarding pass soon became a family milestone. The first bachelor’s degree, and now, in 2025, the first Ph.D.

Raised in La Puente and a graduate of La Puente High School, Avina always asked why. She loved science and the sea, and early on she imagined a life shaped by both.

“Growing up, my parents impressed on me how much education mattered,” she said. “There were a lot of firsts for me. My family always knew the importance of education, and they encouraged me early on to go to college. I fell in love with science at a very early age and was proactive in looking for resources and opportunities to pursue a college degree.”

A high school history teacher mentioned HPU in class one day, and suddenly the map broadened across the horizon. Avina weighed a nearby California option against the unknown. Her father surprised her with a challenge. Try something new, so she chose HPU. 

“When I landed in Honolulu, I thought, my goodness, I get to live here for four years. Wow!” The transition was made even easier by the strong HPU community. A music scholarship and a flute seat in the HPU band gave her instant friends and a daily rhythm. The small classes and close‑knit campus helped the first‑gen unknowns feel navigable and soon Hawaii felt like a second home.

Academically, she arrived for marine biology. The ocean had always been magnetic, but the coursework opened another route of possibilities. “Some of the classes in marine biology... I have to admit, I struggled with a little,” Avina said with a chuckle, “and I felt that I had more of a knack for molecular biology. I eventually switched to biochemistry, and that worked out really well for me.” That pivot became a bridge, turning curiosity about ecosystems into a fascination with life at the cellular scale.

On that bridge stood a mentor who would change her trajectory: HPU Professor of Chemistry David Horgen, Ph.D. Avina first met him in an organic chemistry class. “Not my strongest subject,” she laughed, "yet his energy and care made the science sing. Oh my goodness, Dr. Horgen played such a big role in my life. When students see that professors care about you, it makes the coursework more engaging and exciting. I knew early on that I wanted to work with him and do research in his lab. He took the time to teach me to be a scientist, how to take proper notes and be thorough.”

That lab experience led to her first poster presentation at a research symposium, another first that anchored her identity as a scientist. Like many first‑generation students, Avina balanced ambition with budgets. When that budget tightened, Horgen phoned with a soft push: apply for scholarships. She hesitated; he insisted. In 2017, Avina nominated Horgen (and garnered support from fellow classmates) to be HPU Teacher of the Year, which he was awarded at the commencement ceremony that fall.  

“Having someone who will push you to invest in your career is monumental,” Avina said. “From that application, I got an internship, which led to the following internship, which then led me to apply for my Ph.D.” Alongside Horgen, HPU Associate Professors Gideon Berger, Ph.D., and Yongli Chen, Ph.D., also helped steady her footing in the sciences and made a big impact on her career. Those fibers of mentorship stitched together opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. 

That foundation at HPU carried Avina to Rutgers University in New Jersey for her doctoral training. She entered the School of Graduate Studies in Biomedical Sciences in the Inflammation, Immunity, and Infectious Disease (I³) track, working under the dual mentorship of Professors Amariliz Rivera‑Medina and Chaoyang Xue. Her research focused on the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, a microbe that can cause severe infections, especially in immunocompromised patients. Avina examined which fungal factors on key cell populations might be harnessed to help the immune system recognize the pathogen, which was work that aligned with future vaccine strategies. In plain terms, she studied how this fungus evades our defenses, and how to give those defenses a better chance.

Doctoral work brought new firsts and fresh headwinds. “If you talk to anyone who went to graduate school, it’s a difficult process,” she said. “Especially if you don’t have anyone in your family who’s done it.” At one low point, Avina called Horgen to say she was thinking of stepping away. He listened, then offered the same sage guidance.

"You can’t stop, Sam,” Horgen said. “You’re already there!” Horgen told Avina that she was already on the train and there were no stops.

“He was right. I just needed to hunker down and finish,” Avina said. She defended her dissertation in March 2025 and received her Ph.D. in September 2025.

Avina participated in many community building work experiences while earning her Ph.D. at Rutgers School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and as a program coordinator for the Rutgers Undergraduate Summer Research Experience Program that focuses on helping prepare students in applying to Ph.D. programs. Avina was also in the same program when she finished her studies at HPU while on her way to the east coast in 2017.

“I helped to spearhead a lot of career development and community building initiatives at Rutgers SGS  in collaboration with the American Society for Microbiology as an American Society for Microbiology young ambassador,” Avina said. “I really take the importance of community seriously because I could not have gotten through this journey myself. I always look for ways to pay it forward to the next generation of students.”

Today, Avina is a Scientific Associate at International Meetings and Science (IMsci), a full‑service scientific communications agency. In a hybrid role at the World Trade Center, just steps from the 9/11 Memorial, she translates complex research into clear, accurate materials for life‑science partners.

“I love the team I work with,” she said. “We work with pharmaceutical companies as they launch products, and we help communicate how different drugs work to different audiences that include healthcare practitioners, medical science liaisons, and other scientists.” The through‑line is unmistakable. The precision she learned in the HPU labs and the persistence she honed as a first‑gen scholar now serve patients and providers who rely on trustworthy science.

Asked what happiness looks like at this stage, Avina doesn’t hesitate to respond. 

It’s time. Time with family and friends, time to share milestones with the people who fueled them. “I’m Mexican American and being family‑centered is important in my culture,” she said. “They are the reason I got where I am. Without them, I would never have accomplished what I have today.” Along the way, HPU introduced her to her future husband; the couple plans to marry in New Jersey in 2026.

First‑generation. First bachelor’s degree. First Ph.D. From La Puente to Honolulu to New Jersey and New York, Avina’s life so far is a record of firsts, and an invitation for other first‑generation students to chart their own paths at HPU.