Rosa Serra, Ph.D.
South 1982
Rosa A. Serra graduated from South High in 1982. She received a bachelor's degree in biology from St. Louis University and a doctorate in cell and molecular biology from Penn State University. She has received post-doctoral training in the department of cell biology at Vanderbilt University. She lives in Birmingham, AL.
Rosa is an assistant professor of cell biology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She is a member of the cell and molecular biology graduate program and an associate member of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, UAB Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease Center, UAB Cell Adhesion and other programs.
Previous to her current position, Rosa was an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati and a research assistant professor at Vanderbilt University. She is a recipient of the Vanderbilt University Skin Diseases and Feasibility Award and has served as an advisor to graduate students in cell biology, pathology, molecular and cellular physiology and more.
Her major research interest is determining the mechanism of TGF-beta action in complex organ systems, which will help understand how signals from several cell types within an organ are coordinated to regulate normal development. An understanding of these types of normal signaling cascades will provide a basis for continued advances in detecting, preventing and treating both neoplastic and degenerative diseases.
Rosa has served as a reviewer for numerous journals and is the author of numerous published abstracts and manuscripts. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Society for Developmental Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology and the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
She lectured at the 1997 International Conference on Biotechnology in Havana, Cuba and has been invited to lecture at various other national and international conferences.