Her work encompasses various aspects of a project; starting from importing sample collections and associated data from various studies and ending with deposition and sharing of the genetic data that is produced in public or managed access archives. In between those stages she makes sure that the samples are processed efficiently and any problems addressed in a timely manner, the relevant analysts are granted access to the data and the project progresses as expected. To achieve this she liaises with the internal production pipelines and core services. She also keeps up-to-date with the latest technological developments, liaises with vendors to discuss their products and works closely with the Research and Development team to develop ad-hoc protocols. For instance, currently the Group is working on implementing an assay for reliable 4-field HLA typing and is developing a new protocol for preparing genomic libraries from ancient DNA samples.
Cristina is a biologist and population geneticist by training. She graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Palermo in Italy and completed her PhD in Molecular Biology at New York University. Her past experiences include extensive work in conservation genetics both as a postdoctoral fellow and as a consultant.