PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Cristina Paulino
Cristina Paulino
Full Professor
cristina.paulino(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
c.paulino(at)rug.nl
ORCID: 0000-0001-7017-109X
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 (summa cum laude) 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 August 2017 she obtained a tenure-tracked position as an Assistant Professor and became head of the cryo-EM unit at the Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute (GBB), University of Groningen, The Netherlands. In June 2022 she was promoted to Associate Professor. Recently Cristina has been recruited by the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and has joined the Biochemistry Centre (BZH) as a full professor in Structural Biology with most of her lab members in March 2023. She remains affiliated as a guest professor at the University of Groningen.
Cristina was awarded 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. In 2020 she was awarded the NVBMB prize, from the Dutch Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology that recognises the work of highly talented young independent PIs in the field. Within The Netherlands Electron Microscopy Infrastructure roadmap (NEMI), she headed the national single-particle cryo-EM flagship node and is member of the executive board. At the University of Heidelberg she heads the HDcryoNET and is the spokesperson of the structural biology workgroup of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM).
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. Read more about her here: Biophysics Profile; or download her CV.
MEET OUR LAB MEMBERS
Senior and Support Staff
Jochen Baßler
Senior Staff, habilitated and Manager of the Lab
with us since March 2023
jochen.bassler(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Andrea Schwila
Our secretary to help in all matters
with us since March 2023
+49 6221 54 41 83 andrea.schliwa(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Sabine Griesel
Technician and Guardian of the Lab
with us since March 2023
sabine.griesel(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Uschi Göbel
Technician and Master of the Cells
with us since March 2023
uschi.goebel(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Postdocs
Martin Peter
Postdoc
with us since May 2022
martin.peter(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
PhD students
Linda Markus
PhD Student
with us since December 2022
linda.markus(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Foteini Karapanagioti
PhD Student
with us since Nov 2019
f.karapanagioti(at)rug.nl
Anna Borowska
PhD Student of Dirk Slotboom
with us to do cryo-EM since March 2021
a.m.borowska(at)rug.nl
Panos Drougkas
PhD Student
with us since September 2021
p.drougkas(at)rug.nl
Undergraduate students or Exchange Researchers
BZH Staff @HDcryoNet – the Cryo-EM technology Platform on Campus
Jan Rheinberger
Postdoc & EM Support Staff
with us since Dec 2018
jan.rheinberger(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Dirk Flemming
EM Support Staff
with us since Mar 2023
dirk.flemming(at)bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
Beate Jannack
Technician
with us since Mar 2023
beate.jannack@bzh.uni-heidelberg.de
special guests
Feline
our well being advisor
with us since 2022
Bagel
our processing dog
with us since 2019
Bailey
our EM watchdog
with us since 2020
Katie
our slide master cat
with us since 2019
Alba
our grant submitting baby
with us since 2020
Talos Arctica
rocking science @ 200kV
with us since 2017
Very much missed alumni
Valeria Kalienkova
Postdoc
with us from Sept 2019 till Dec 2022
Michiel Punter
IT manager at University fo Groningen
Making sure our cluster didn’t explode, with us from Aug 2017 till Feb 2023
Tatiana Cereija
EMBO short-term postdoc visitor
from the lab of João Morais Cabral (PT)
with us from March till June 2022
Victor Dubach
Master student
with us since Feb 2021 – Oct 2021
David Griwatz
Erasmus student
with us from Dec 2019 – Mar 2020
Chancie Thangaratnarajah
Postdoc (shared with Dirk Slotboom
Jasper Kuipers
Master Student
with us from February 2022 till Oct 2022
Lisa Hielkema
PhD student
with us from June 2017 till Feb 2022
Alisa Garaeva
PhD student shared with Dirk Slotboom
with us from Sept 2017 – March 2021
Gert Oostergetel
a cryo-EM legend now enjoying his retirement
was with us from 2017-2019
Marcus Stuart
EM Facility manager at University of Groningen
Keeping the EM unit up and running since 1997, with us from Aug 2017 till Feb 2023
Vanessa Clerico Mosina
PhD student
with us from Nov 2017 till Oct 2022
Hendrik Sikkema
PhD Student shared with Bert Poolman
with us from Jan 2019 – Sep 2020
Kavya Prasad
Master student
was with us in 2018
THE GOLDEN TROPHY
The golden EM trophy, is one of the things we introduced in our group to show appreciation and boost the motivation within oneself and between lab members. This trophy is passed to everyone in the group that had a nice accomplishment (published, unpublished, for research or a big life event, or simply for a great idea or support). This event gets a spot on our ‘wall of fame’, which hangs next to our ‘wall of shame’, then, hey, mistakes happen, we learn from them and they can be a good reason for a laugh, too…
THE WALLS OF FAME & SHAME
We like to celebrate all events be it good, bad or simply hilarious.
They all get a spot on our wall of fame or shame, which hang next to our beloved Talos Arctica.
Then hey, mistakes happen, we learn from them and they can be a good reason for a laugh, too.
THE BIG PICTURE
After all we like to join forces and are a big team. Together with the group of Dirk Slotboom and Bert Poolman we use to build the MEMBRANE ENZYMOLOGY GROUP, and together with the group of Albert Guskov and Kasia Tych we are all interested in the same thing: how do membrane proteins work?!
