Kirti Karunakaran, MS, originally from Atlanta, studied at Georgia Institute of Technology where she received her Bachelor’s and Master's in Biology. Her master's thesis was in the lab of Dr. John McDonald, and focused on exploring the significance of a loss of function p53 mutation in a homogenous genetic background in cancer.
After her master’s, she worked as a Lead Research Specialist at Emory Primate Research Center in the lab of Dr. Steven Bosinger. Her work involved examining pDC depletion in chronically infected SIV rhesus macaques, creating a B-Cell sequencing library, and testing the protective effects of a broadly neutralizing antibody in SARS-CoV2 infected rhesus macaques.
Karunakaran joined Vanderbilt University through the IGP program in 2023 and joined the Serezani lab in 2024. She is a student of the Molecular Pathology & Immunology graduate program and has been awarded with the Chemical Biology of Infectious Disease (CBID) Training Grant.
Outside of lab, she enjoys spending her time playing board games, listening to music, hanging out with friends and family, and volunteering at the Nashville Humane Association, where she adopted her cat, Riya.