Yolanda Villa is a Mexican physicist specializing in high-energy particle physics. A researcher at the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Bologna, her career is closely linked to her participation in the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) at CERN in Geneva. Within this international collaboration, she has held leadership roles and made key contributions to the development and construction of particle detectors, particularly silicon pixel detectors used to track particles produced in collisions with very high precision. For her work and leadership in heavy-ion physics, she has received significant recognitions. In 2021, she was awarded the "Emmy Noether Distinction for Women in Physics" by the European Physical Society. She also shared, as a member of the collaboration, the "Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics." Her studies are crucial for understanding the quark-gluon plasma, the primordial state of matter in the universe.