Heavy metals
Karen founded Heavy Metal Certified and built Heavy Metal Index to connect toxicology, food categories, regulations, testing, and source evidence. The goal is not fear. It is standards that can survive scrutiny.
Heavy Metal Certified ↗Standards Developer · Microbiome Researcher · Founder · Cyprus
Always
ahead of
the market.
Karen Pendergrass works where heavy metals meet the microbiome—and where research becomes standards. She founded Heavy Metal Certified, developed microbial metallomics, built Microbiome Medicine, and imagined Swovee before robotics, AI, laser scanning, and large-format 3D printing began converging in the field.
SUBJECT IDENTIFIEDKAREN PENDERGRASS
The Oracle · On the record
“Well, if it isn’t the Oracle herself.”
In 2020, Karen told Fred Hart that Pepsi would eventually put fiber and prebiotics on the front of its cans. It shipped in 2026. Fred's greeting stuck.
Fred Hart · Partner & Creative Director, Interact
Open the receipts →The work
Heavy metals. Microbes. Machines.
Three disciplines, one habit: recognize the system early, follow the evidence all the way through, then build the thing the field will eventually need.
Microbes
Her work in microbiome medicine and microbial metallomics examines how metals alter microbial ecosystems, virulence, host response, and the interventions that might change the course of disease.
Microbial metallomics →Machines
Swovee is Karen’s 2017 robotics project: AI, laser scanning, autonomous movement, and large-format 3D printing combined into a terrain-aware construction system called the Rovalizer.
Swovee.com ↗
A standard—and the work behind the sanctuary
Heavy Metal Certified.
The certification program translates a complicated evidence base into category-specific operating standards. It has also been the work helping Karen feed and care for the Gardens of St. Gertrude cats year after year.
Origin + receipts
The work did not begin with a brand deck.
It began with lived problems, documented calls, and building the infrastructure before the market agreed it was necessary.
Paleo
Called the Paleo diet as a coming trend four years before it broke into the mainstream, then built the certification body that now defines the category.
Follow the record ↗First recorded FMT for celiac disease
Became the first person on record to receive a fecal microbiota transplant for celiac disease, four years before an "accidental" case was reported as curative.
Read the origin →Fiber on the front of the can
Told Fred Hart that Pepsi would one day put fiber and prebiotics on the front of its cans and advertise it proudly. He thought I was crazy. It shipped in 2026.
Gardens of St. Gertrude · 501(c)(3)
And 90+ cats.
Karen runs a real cat sanctuary in Cyprus. Tinies grew from the daily reality of feeding, housing, treating, and advocating for those animals. A dollar is not symbolic here. It helps buy the next bag of food.
Selected ventures · Founded by Karen Pendergrass
One brain. Several fields.
Commercial engineHeavy Metal CertifiedHuman-grade contaminant standards for food, supplements, personal care, and pet food.↗EvidenceHeavy Metal IndexA public map of heavy-metal testing, regulations, categories, and source evidence.↗ResearchMicrobiome MedicineDisease-associated microbiome patterns translated into clinical questions and interventions.↗FrontierPhage CocktailsPrecision bacteriophage therapy for antimicrobial resistance without carpet-bombing the microbiome.↗MachinesSwoveeAI, robotics, laser scanning, and large-format 3D printing for terrain-aware construction.↗AnimalsTinies + Gardens of St. GertrudeA global animal platform born from the daily work of caring for 90+ sanctuary cats.↗
The record
Serious work leaves receipts.
Browse Karen’s publications, documented forecasts, research frameworks, and professional record directly.