Cristina Valensisi is the Biology instructor for the Early Entrance Program’s Transition School. She received her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia (Italy) after which she trained in Epigenomics and Stem Cell Biology, completing her postdoctoral studies at the Turku Center for Biotechnologies (Finland) and at the University of Washington. Through her many years in academia, Cristina has mentored many students and cultivated her passion for teaching, which led her to graduate in the STEP (Science Teaching Experience for Postdocs) program at UW-Bothell. Cristina is passionate about science education research and is an active member of the UW community committed to advance science through research and science education.