Born in Kiev, Rodnina studied biology at the University of Kiev and obtained her PhD in molecular biology and genetics in 1989.[2] From 1990 to 1992, she was a research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the Witten/Herdecke University.[2] Afterwards, she was a research assistant at the same university and she received her habilitation in 1997.[2] From 1998 to 2008, she was a professor at the Witten/Herdecke University.[2] Since 2008, she is a scientific member and the director of the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry.[2]