Karly B. Serrano
Graduate Student, The McLean Group
Heritage University, WA – B.S. in Biology
Fisk University, TN – Master’s in Chemistry
Background:
Karly, born and raised in Yakima, WA, earned her B.S. in Biology from Heritage University. She further honed her research skills in the Fisk-Vanderbilt-Master’s-to-PhD Bridge program, earning a Master’s in Chemistry under the mentorship of Dr. Steven Damo, where her thesis focused on characterizing the thermodynamic stability and the misfolding properties of S100A12, a protein involved in chronic inflammation.
Since joining the McLean lab in January of 2025, Karly has focused her research on the structural characterization of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) using ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS) and utilizing different high resolution ion mobility (HRIM) instrumentation to explore potential PFAS isomer separation.