Her research is in Theoretical Computer Science. Much of it focuses on the limitations of approximation algorithms and probabilistic checking of proofs. Dana did her PhD at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. Her thesis co-won the Nessyahu Prize for best math PhD thesis in Israel in 2009, and part of this work was awarded the FOCS 2008 Best paper. Dana went on to spend a couple of years at Princeton University and the Institute of Advanced Study before joining MIT as an assistant professor in the end of 2010. Dana is the recipient of MIT's Jerome Saltzer teaching award.