Dr Karina Pombo-Garcia, Rosalind Franklin Institute
A group leader at the Rosalind Franklin Institute on “Molecular Organization of Cell Interfaces”, Karina’s lab investigates the molecular assembly of cell-cell adhesions in epithelia tissue and in the pathology of intestinal diseases exploring biophysical mechanisms involving membrane-condensates. Combining cell biology, super-resolution STED microscopy and chemical biology, Karina aims to uncover how cells control different physico-chemical environments to drive self-organisation processes that shape mesoscale structures enabling tissue function.
Karina completed her PhD in Chemistry between Helmholtz (HZDR), Technische Universität Dresden (TUD), Germany and Monash University, Australia. Later, she shifted to do a postdoc in cell biology and biophysics at the Max Planck for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics. During her time there, she made a key discovery on the understanding of the process by which epithelial cells connect via wetting of liquid-condensates of tight junctions. Her association with the Dunn School is sponsored by the group of Jordan Raff.