Karina Oliani

A restless soul passionate about medicine, nature, and adventure, Karina Oliani has made it her life’s work to bring medical care to little-known remote areas surrounded by nature. Her experience as an explorer has taken her to more than 120 countries, during which she has built a formidable expedition résumé. She has summited Everest twice and was the first Brazilian woman to climb K2. She is also the first person to cross the lava lake of the Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia (a Guinness World Record). Oliani is also a diving instructor who has made more than 5,000 dives, many among apex ocean predators.

It was during these adventurous experiences that Oliani realized the need to promote basic health and well-being in such remote places. Since then, she has worked to develop a strategy anchored by three pillars: specialized medicine, education, and environmental conservation through an initiative known as the Dharma Institute. She has carried out more than 10,000 medical consultations, surgeries, and procedures in 50 communities in nearly a dozen Brazilian states and other needy spots in the world.