Cristina S. Mesquita is a postdoctoral researcher at the Group of Molecular Microbiology, collaborating closely with i3S Diagnostics.

Cristina obtained her PhD in Molecular and Environmental Biology from the University of Minho, focusing on the genomic contextualization of heterogeneity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, under the supervision of Pedro M. Santos (CBMA, UM) and Craig Winstanley (CIMI, University of Liverpool). During her doctoral studies, she identified pathogenic determinants through a proteomics approach, assessed the bacterial pathogenic potential, and characterized the correlation between phenotypic variability and genomic plasticity through comparative genomics. She also contributed to other research projects, enhancing her skills in metagenomics and transcriptomics analysis.

Currently, Cristina's research interests revolve around the study of microbial co-infections in SARS-CoV-2 seasonality and the phylogenetic characterization of SARS-CoV-2 variants.
With a keen interest in tackling antimicrobial resistance and developing improved diagnostic tests through the lens of microbial genomics, she is actively involved in the development of new tools and bioinformatic pipelines for the rapid diagnosis and surveillance of infectious diseases, together with PostDoc researchers from i3S Diagnostics.