Karen received her Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with Honours (first class) in 2011 from the University of Sydney under the guidance of Prof. Katrina A. Jolliffe. She then went on to pursue her PhD degree under the continued supervision of Prof. Jolliffe where her research interest focuses on the design and synthesis of receptors for anion recognition and sensing.Her current research projects involve the development of novel molecular probes that function as inhibitors of the oncogenic transcription factor STAT3.