18 Facts About Elba Serrano

Elba E Serrano is a neuroscientist and biophysicist who holds a position as a Regent's Professor of Biology at New Mexico State University.

Elba Serrano is known for her contributions to research on the nervous system of gastropods, inner ear development in Xenopus, neurobiology of glia, sensory signal transduction in guard cells, and for leadership of programs that recruit, train and retain underrepresented minorities in STEM.

Elba Serrano's research considers the central role of ion channels in the reception and transduction of stimuli and integrates methods from genetics, physiology, and anatomy.

Elba Serrano's father was a sergeant in the United States Army and a military veteran, which meant that Serrano was raised in Central America, Asia and Europe.

Elba Serrano attended almost ten different schools and eventually graduated from the Nurnberg American High School.

Elba Serrano earned a bachelor's degree in physics at the University of Rochester, where she became interested in biophysics.

Elba Serrano moved to Stanford University for her doctoral degree, where she earned a PhD in Biology specializing in neuroscience and biophysics under the supervision of Peter A Getting in 1983.

Elba Serrano's dissertation considered the movement of ions across the cell membrane of giant neurons.

Elba Serrano then joined the laboratory of Susumu Hagiwara at University of California, Los Angeles Medical School.

Elba Serrano's research considers the ear, hearing and balance, as well as the role of neuroglia in brain function.

Elba Serrano has studied the transduction of light by plant stomata and the formation of sensory organs, and the ways sensory cells acquire their phenotypes.

Elba Serrano has developed approaches to image neurons and inner ear sensory cells with the scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy and in vivo, primarily using multi-photon microscopy.

Elba Serrano has been recognized as an American Association for the Advancement of Science International Lecturer on Women in Science and was awarded a Ford Foundation Fellowship.

Elba Serrano is the recipient of a 2021 US Fulbright Scholar Award for research in Portugal at the University of Aveiro.

At New Mexico State University Elba Serrano served as Principal Investigator of the institution's NIH Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement and as the co-originator of the NMSU NIH BP-ENDURE Building Research Achievement in Neuroscience programs, which have supported hundreds of underrepresented minority students across the university to enter biomedical research careers.

Elba Serrano has served on Francis Collins' Advisory Committee to the Director of NIH National Institutes of Health.

Elba Serrano has co-Chaired the ACD Working Group on Diversity with Hannah Valantine and is part of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group.

Elba Serrano has worked on behalf of many scientific societies that promote research and student training including the Professional Development Committee for the Society for Neuroscience and the Steering Committee for the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.