I come from Nemi, a small town close to Rome in Italy. I grew up in a family with a scientific background: my father used to teach physics and chemistry in high school and my uncle is a chemist and teaches chemistry and maths. I got a Bachelor Degree in Chemistry at Sapienza University of Rome, thanks to a deep interest in chemistry developed during high school. During my undergraduate studies, I was fascinated by Biochemistry and Structural Biology and that is what I decided to study during my Masters at Sapienza University of Rome. Apart from science, I love many forms of art and during my spare time I enjoy spending time in museums and I try to be involved in social activities. I also like very much travelling, exploring, meeting people and learning about new cultures.
Imperial college london
start date | 01/10/2017
supervisor | Bernadette Byrne
cri.cecchetti18@gmail.com
Structural and functional studies of plant and fungal secondary active transporters
I am working on two membrane proteins (named UapA and AtBor1) that are responsible of carrying important nutrients from one side to the other of the membrane, for this reason they are named transporters. The main project focuses on the plant transporter AtBor1 that is required for transport of Boron (B) from root cells to the xylem for the distribution around the plant. Whereas UapA is a fungal transporter of uric acid and xanthine, important for the metabolism of nucleobases.
Skills & Expertise
#Protein Purification & Expression
#SDS-PAGE
#DNA extraction
#Project management
#Membrane transporters
#Crystallography
#Biochemistry
#Structural biology
Secondments
Maynooth University (Ireland), October 2019
Molecular Dimensions (UK), August 2018
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), May 2018
Workshops & conferences
Biochemical Society in Birmingham – CCP4 Study Weekend | Nottingham (UK), December 2018
British Crystallography Association Winter meeting |Imperial College London (UK), December 2019
CSB Open Day Imperial College London (UK), May 2019
British Crystallography Association Spring meeting |Nottigham (UK), April 2019
Postgraduate Research day at Imperial College London (UK), April 2019
awards
Winner of the British Federation Women Graduates (BFWG) May Whiteley Award | October 2020
Runner up prize for the best presentation at the Imperial College Research Day Event, July 2020
Outreach activities
Cristina has not just been doing research, she has also been involved in science communication activities to engage citizens with science.
Collaborating with the webpages Huma-net and 1 Million Women in STEM, UK | May 2020 – present
Guest Judge at VEX UK Nationals Robotic Competition Finals | February 2020
Co-organising the event “Crystals made of tears: from misery to cheer” at The Devereux pub in central London | July 2019
Blogging about science and PhD life| see all blogposts from Cristina: Portrait, Two months at Molecular Dimensions in Newmarket, Story of an outreach event, ESR made, Covid-19: a lesson about scientific communication
Participating in the Career day at Hillside Primary School, Earley, Reading, UK | June 2019
RAMP Network 
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