Kiara has a doctoral degree in Biomedical Engineering and a master’s degree in Global Public Health, which she earned at Brown University in May 2023. Her dissertation, Leveraging Biotransport Mechanisms in the Design of Technologies to Improve Access to Blood-Based Diagnostics, focused on simplifying blood-based diagnostic testing at the point-of-care and incorporating user voices in the development of new testing technologies. Her master's thesis examined the associations of racism and discrimination with the risk of developing hypertension during pregnancy. After her PhD, Kiara completed a NIH Fogarty LAUNCH Fellowship based in Lima, Peru, spending a year working with a previous Minister of Health doing research on how Peru can strengthen its medical device innovation sector. Kiara completed her bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh and is originally from Northern Virginia.