Born and raised in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Mary Anna earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto, conducting research at the Hospital for Sick Children under the mentorship of Brian H. Robinson. Her doctoral research focused on the inherited metabolic disorder Pyruvate Carboxylase Deficiency. In 2002, Mary Anna joined North Carolina State University as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the laboratories of Trudy Mackay and Robert Anholt, where she developed Drosophila models of human diseases, including glaucoma and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and investigated the population genetics of visual senescence. Mary Anna is currently a Principal Research Scholar with a research focus on plant–microbe interactions using advanced molecular and genomic approaches, including Oxford Nanopore sequencing. She also serves as Program Manager for the Center for Integrated Fungal Research (CIFR), Project Manager for the Collaborative Crop Resilience Program (CCRP), and Laboratory Manager for the Carbone Lab. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, hiking, and yoga, as well as spending time with her two adult children and husband. Publications by Mary Anna Carbone listed on the Google Scholar profile found HERE.