Hiba Siddiqui, founder and CEO of the South Asian Heart Health Initiative (SAHHI), earned the Silver Winner distinction in the “Young Woman of the Year” category at the 2025 Women Changing the World Awards Americas. This annual awards event acknowledges women making transformative impacts across sectors including sustainability, health, leadership, and innovation, highlighting those who inspire meaningful community change.
Siddiqui has been called a visionary who bridges the realms of fashion and medicine. Alongside her scientific research—which focuses on tumor–immune interactions and therapeutic resistance in bladder and prostate cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School—she founded SAHHI. This nonprofit’s mission is to advance cardiovascular health literacy within South Asian communities through culturally tailored and community-driven educational programs.
In addition to her biomedical research, Siddiqui uses creative advocacy to transform health narratives. She has expertly blended medicine with artistic storytelling by coordinating fashion advocacy events centered on representing individuals with chronic illnesses and disabilities. Early work with Connecting Pieces, a nonprofit focusing on gastrointestinal disorder awareness, launched her into platforms where health and creativity intersect. Later, as Operations and Marketing Coordinator for Massachusetts Fashion Week, she expanded efforts in inclusive representation and creative education, including coordinating the Boston Fashion Awards 2025, the city’s largest fashion event.
Siddiqui has spoken passionately about how health disparities cannot be addressed by science alone. Effective change requires meeting communities where they are—culturally, linguistically, and through creative engagement—to make healthcare education both empowering and accessible.
Reflecting on her award, she said it honors not only scientific achievement but also the stories that drive progress forward. She credits her success to the unwavering love and support of her family—parents, siblings, and close friends—who instilled in her a passion for humanity and creativity and grounded her in faith. Siddiqui also acknowledged the mentorship of remarkable women including Marlena Garcia, Maegan Michelle, and Keyla Caba, who have fueled her ambition to innovate advocacy and leadership.
Her advice to aspiring changemakers is to start small, recognizing that impactful change begins through conversations long before it reaches public platforms or scientific labs. She encourages finding a strong support system and trusting one’s instincts as crucial steps on the path.
In the last year, Siddiqui has expanded SAHHI’s national outreach and led interdisciplinary initiatives with Massachusetts Fashion Week and MASS AWIS. Concurrently, she is applying for MD-PhD programs for the 2026–2027 academic years, crediting her family, mentors, and diverse community experiences for helping her continuously evolve.
Looking forward, Siddiqui envisions a world where scientific research, creative advocacy, and health equity symbiotically advance. Her mission is to foster a future where science not only informs compassionate healthcare but also elevates human visibility and dignity for all communities.
