Elba Serrano

Elba was born in Puerto Rico and lived all over the world as a kid because her father was in the U.S. military. While attending graduate school, she saw an African-Brazilian martial art called capoeira and was hooked! “As a capoerista, I listen to the music of the berimbau and then execute a series of movements that are similar to gymnastics. There is an organ that is specifically responsible for my ability to do that. That organ is the ear,” she explains. Her work as a biophysicist involves helping solve hearing loss that occurs because of damaged receptors caused by genetics or noise pollution. “Because the destruction of the ear is a global problem, I’ve been conducting studies at the New Mexico State University on the receptors of the ear. It is my dream that someday everybody will be able to hear the richness of sound.”