About us

Cristina Paulino, originally from Portugal, studied biochemistry at the Heinrich-Heine University in Dusseldorf, Germany. She conducted her Master Thesis at the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund, Germany, and graduated in 2008. During her undergraduate and following doctoral studies at the Max-Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt, Germany, she was trained in membrane protein biology. Under the supervision of Werner Kühlbrandt, a pioneer in the field, she became proficient in electron cryo-microscopy (cryo-EM) and obtained her PhD with distinction in 2014. Building upon her expertise, she implemented the technique of cryo-EM in the group of Raimund Dutzler (University of Zurich, Switzerland) during her postdoctoral studies. In 2017 she obtained a tenure-tracked position as an Assistant Professor and became head of the cryo-EM unit at the University of Groningen. Cristina was awarded with a PhD Fellowship from the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation FCT, a Postdoc Fellowship from the University of Zurich, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships, a NWO Veni grant and a NWO Start-Up grant. Her interdisciplinary research combines structural data, determined by high-resolution single particle cryo-EM, with the functional characterization of target proteins. Her main interest is focused on elucidating the structure-function relationships that explain the mechanism of action of membrane transporters and channels. Apart from science Cristina is a devoted mentor and advocate for women in science. Read more about her here: Biophysics Profile or download her CV