lydia villa-komaroff (born august 7, 1947) is a molecular and cellular biologist who has been an academic laboratory scientist, a university administrator, and a business woman. she was the third mexican american woman in the united states to receive a doctorate degree in the sciences (1975) and is a co-founding member of the society for the advancement of chicanos/hispanics and native americans in science (sacnas). her most notable discovery was in 1978 during her post-doctoral research, when she was part of a team that discovered how bacterial cells could be used to generate insulin.