Cyntia Taveneau is a skilled and passionate structural biologist with significant expertise in investigating the intricate structures of biological molecules.

Originally from France, Cyntia earned her PhD from the French Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in September 2015, where she gained solid experience in protein purification, expression, and biophysical characterization under the guidance of Dr. Stephane Bressanelli. Her research led to the discovery of new structural features of PI4KIIIalpha, a human protein highjacked by the Hepatitis C virus.

After completing her PhD, Cyntia continued to pursue her interest in structural biology with a postdoctoral position at the Institut Curie in Paris. There, she worked with Dr. Aurelie Bertin to explore septin proteins and their interaction with the membrane primarily through the use of cryoelectron tomography. This experience has allowed her to maintain collaborations in the ongoing structural investigations of septin interactions with other cytoskeletal proteins.

In 2019, Cyntia relocated to Melbourne and joined the De Marco team at Monash University as a research fellow. There, she began investigating biological samples in situ, using fibsem and cryofibsem techniques. Leveraging her robust background in structural biology, Cyntia joined the Knott lab in February 2023 to delve into the evolution of CRISPR and how we can improve the engineering of CRISPR systems, using her expertise in cryo electron microscopy.