Cristina is a native of Lisbon, Portugal and obtained her Veterinary Medicine Degree from the University of Évora, Portugal, in 2005. She completed an eighteen months Small Animal Medical and Surgical Internship followed by a three-year Residency in Comparative Veterinary Ophthalmology at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. During that time, she obtained the post-graduation degree in Veterinary Ophthalmology by the Autonomous University of Barcelona and collaborated as a professor at the Veterinary School of the same University. In 2012 she gained her European Diploma in Veterinary Ophthalmology and started working as a Veterinarian Ophthalmologist in private practice at Vetoeiras Hospital Veterinário in Portugal, and at Optivet Referrals in the United Kingdom. She is an invited professor of the Veterinary School of Évora University in Portugal.