Cristinel Miinea

Biography

Cristinel Mîinea is Instructor/lab manager in the chemistry department. He came to the United States in 1995 with a BS degree at the University of Bucharest, Romania. He pursued his doctoral studies in biochemistry at the University of Houston while studying the impact of glucose-induced oxidative stress on arachidonic acid metabolism in Schwann cells affected by diabetic neuropathy.

After earning a doctorate, he focused his research interests on examining the signaling pathways leading to insulin-stimulated transduction of glucose transporter to cellular membrane in adipose cells as a postdoctoral fellow at Dartmouth School of Medicine (2002-2006).

After several research stints in biopharmaceutical companies in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Mîinea returned to academia as adjunct faculty at Ursuline College (2015-2018).

In his new position at Oberlin College, he is focused on providing support to students in their quest of connecting practical lab skills to theoretical concepts and knowledge. This challenging activity is carried out in a collaborative effort with department faculty.

Mîinea and his wife, Liliana, who also is a chemist, are proud parents to one daughter. His family resides in Brecksville, Ohio. Together with his family, Mîinea enjoys traveling. Pushed by his daughter, he has recently rediscovered his leisure interest for aquariums and exotic fish.