Born in Milan and raised in Copenhagen, Serra moved to London in 1993. She graduated in International Relations at the London School of Economics, followed by a Master’s Degree in Journalism at City University. She speaks Italian, English, Danish and French.

Her career began in 2000 at the BBC, first as an assistant on the Today programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, before becoming a reporter for BBC London News. In 2003 she worked for Sky News, before moving to Channel 5, where she became the first non-native speaker anchorwoman to present an English news programme. From 2006 to 2022 she worked for Al Jazeera English, as a presenter and reporter, carrying out important investigations in Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and Washington. In 2009 she reported on Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to the Holy Land, becoming the first reporter from the Arab TV channel to follow news about the Vatican.

Concurrently active in Italian broadcasting, she was a commentator for TV Talk, broadcast on RAI 3 for ten years. In 2011 she presented the programme “Cosmo”, also on RAI 3. From 2016 to 2020, she blogged for Huffington Post Italia.

Her extensive work experience has provided her with a particular role in the field of contemporary culture, enabling her to embrace and channel cultural references from English-speaking and Arab countries as well as Italy.

Her first book, Gli italiani non sono pigri [Italians Aren’t Lazy] (Garzanti 2013), attempts to go beyond stereotypes and examine the real cultural differences between northern and southern Europe. She has won numerous literary and journalism prizes, including the Premio Caccuri and the Premio Com&te. She is also the second woman (after the Nobel Prize-winner Rita Levi Montalcini) to be awarded the prestigious Premio 12 Apostoli. In 2019, she became a Cavaliere d’Onore della Stella d’Italia, one of the highest national honors in Italy. 

She is actively involved in national and international conferences, both as a moderator, and as a speaker, thanks to the extensive knowledge that she has acquired during her career, with speeches focusing on international current affairs issues.