Christina Schmidt
Postdoc
Biography
I studied biochemistry at the Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg (GER) focusing on molecular and clinical oncology. My aim to study the metabolic rewiring of cancer cells I discovered as part of my seminars with Prof. Almut Schulze (Würzburg, GER), where I later wrote my master thesis.With the support from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie [ITN] Fellowship “TRANSMIT – TRANSlating the role of Mitochondria in Tumorigenesis”, I started my PhD in October 2017 in the lab of Prof. Christian Frezza (University of Cambridge, UK). During my PhD I developed a novel model of Fumarate Hydratase deficiency and cultured it in a 3D system to study the impact of nutrient and oxygen gradients. Moreover, I developed my passion of combining wet-lab experiments with tailored bioinformatics analysis using multi-omics data integration and transitioned into data science.After finishing my PhD in February 2021, I stayed as a Postdoc in the Frezza Lab, which moved to the University of Cologne (GER). During this time, I worked as a data scientist focusing on data landscapes such as transcriptome, proteome and metabolome, applying my knowledge in different collaborative projects.In January 2023 I joined the Saez-Rodriguez group as postdoctoral researcher working primarily in the SMART-CARE consortium to apply mass-spectrometry-based systems medicine to cancer.
Research Interests
It is fascinating how cancer cells manage to continuously rewire their metabolism to facilitate their rapid growth and survival, whilst being challenged by changes in environmental cues. Hence, I want to understand this metabolic adaptability in cancer to enable better therapies. To embark in this endeavour the advances in the metabolomics field, which led to a massive amount of data, are key. Yet, there is still work needed to increase data interpretation for which it is essential to develop advanced bioinformatics analysis tools to fully extract the information hidden in the data.Hence, my current goal is to build prior knowledge databases that aids biological interpretation and to combine metabolomics data with other layers of biological information such as proteomics to ultimately develop more accurate biological models, thus enhancing our current understanding of metabolic rewiring in cancer.
Professional Career
2021 - 2022
Post-doctoral researcher, CECAD - Cluster of Excellence for Aging Research, University of Cologne, Germany
2021
Postdoctoral researcher, MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
2017 - 2021
Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher (TRANSMIT), MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge, UK
Education
2017 - 2021
PhD in Medical Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK
2014 - 2017
M.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Würzburg, Germany
2014 - 2015
M.Sc. Biochemistry, Erasmus Exchange, University of Oulu, Finland
2011 - 2014
B.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Würzburg, Germany