Mechanism
Mechanism
Tau structure, assembly, and nucleolar stress in Alzheimer's and frontotemporal dementia.
University of Sussex, UK
Mahmoud Bukar Maina
PhD · FRSA · Neuroscientist, educator & researcher
Decoding tauopathies across ancestries — bridging Sussex Neuroscience and African science capacity.
Mahmoud Bukar Maina
/01 — Gallery
Two continents. One mission.
Sussex Neuroscience and BioRTC, Nigeria — linked by shared questions on tau, ancestry, and who benefits from neuroscience.
United Kingdom
Sussex Neuroscience
Tau structure, cryo-EM, and the Maina Lab hub at the University of Sussex — where fundamental neuroscience meets global collaboration.
The bridge
One lab, two continents — research flows both ways through people, samples, and training.
- 1iPSC models across ancestries
- 2Tau structure & aggregation
- 3Training & open science
- 4Policy & capacity in Africa
Nigeria
BioRTC · Yobe
African ancestry in iPSC models, capacity building, and science leadership — ensuring representation shapes what we discover about tauopathies.
Shared bench
Methods, datasets, and trainees move between hubs — not a one-way export, but a continuous loop of discovery and capacity.
One question
How does ancestry change what we see in tau pathology — and who gets to benefit from the answers?
/02 — Process
How the science moves — step by step.
Toggle between Maina Lab’s iPSC pipeline and tau aggregation pathway. Click any step or let the sequence play.
Skin fibroblasts from indigenous donors capture genetic diversity absent from most global biobanks.
/03 — Scholar
Peer-reviewed impact, presented clinically.
Selected works from Google Scholar — each title links to the public paper. Full profile in the header citation badge.
| Year | Title | Journal | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Atypical, non-standard functions of the microtubule associated Tau protein↗ | Acta Neuropathologica Communications | 91 |
| 2016 | Nuclear tau and its potential role in Alzheimer's disease↗ | Biomolecules | 9 |
| 2018 | The involvement of tau in nucleolar transcription and the stress response↗ | Acta Neuropathologica Communications | 70 |
| 2021 | Two decades of neuroscience publication trends in Africa↗ | Nature Communications | 34 |
| 2022 | What is next in African neuroscience?↗ | eLife | 11 |
Metrics last synced 2026-05. View full Google Scholar profile ↗
/04 — Research
Maina Lab — seen as much as read.
Image-led research story. Each pillar pairs photography with the science.
Maina Lab · Research in progress
Ancestry & iPSC
Ancestry & iPSC
Stem cells from diverse African donors — pathogenesis across backgrounds.
Dual-continent lab
Dual-continent lab
BioRTC, Nigeria · Sussex, UK — one mission, two hubs.
Live hub
Team news, grants & training on Maina Lab
/05 — Journey
A glimpse of the path — not a CV dump.
From Maiduguri to Sussex to global investigator: personality through story, one chapter at a time.
Origins
Human Anatomy & clinical roots
University of Maiduguri, Nigeria
BSc Human Anatomy; early neuroscience curiosity shaped by teaching psychiatry nursing and medical sciences in northeastern Nigeria.
2011 →
Sussex training arc
University of Sussex, UK
MSc Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience, then PhD in the Serpell Laboratory on tau and amyloid-β mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease.
Research
Tau, nucleolar stress & structure
Serpell Lab · Sussex Neuroscience
Published foundational work on nuclear tau, dityrosine cross-links, and tau filament assembly — bridging biophysics and disease biology.
Outreach
Africa science ecosystem builder
Nigeria · Uganda · UK
Founded TReND in Africa Outreach and Science Communication Hub Nigeria; Royal Society of Biology Science Communication Award (2017); FRSA (2018).
Today
Dual-continent Maina Lab
Sussex, UK · BioRTC, Yobe State University, Nigeria
iPSC models from diverse African donors to study how ancestry influences tauopathy pathogenesis — linked to policy via Yobe State science advisory role.
Forward
Global investigator · equitable neuroscience
EMBO GIN · Nature Communications · eLife
Building the next generation of African neuroscientists while pushing tau research and open science onto the global stage.
/06 — Impact
Beyond the bench — Africa science ecosystem.
LinkedIn and Facebook amplify this voice daily; the site anchors the story in one place.
TReND in Africa Outreach
Founder · outreach coordination
Science Communication Hub Nigeria
Founder · public access to science role models
Yobe State Government
Special Adviser for Science — policy & community linkage
Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)
Fellow · enlarging science through public engagement
“When I am not in the lab, I am somewhere passionately promoting and communicating science.”
/07 — Highlights
Recent recognition & lab momentum.
Curated from Maina Lab news — each card links to the original announcement or source.
/08 — Horizon
Futuristic headstart — where the work is going.
Not prophecy — informed bets from two decades of tau research and African neuroscience leadership.
Watching
How diverse genetic backgrounds reshape tauopathy models and therapeutic targets.
Building
A pipeline of African neuroscientists with world-class training and open science habits.
Inviting
Collaborators in iPSC biology, imaging, AI for science, and equitable dementia research.
/09 — FAQ
Cited clearly
Straight answers for journalists, collaborators, and AI engines looking up Mahmoud Bukar Maina.
Who is Mahmoud Bukar Maina?
Mahmoud Bukar Maina, PhD FRSA, is a Nigerian-born neuroscientist and Group Leader of the Maina Lab. He is a Research Fellow at Sussex Neuroscience (University of Sussex, UK), an EMBO Global Investigator, and Special Adviser for Science to Yobe State Government, Nigeria.
What does the Maina Lab study?
The Maina Lab studies tauopathies — including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia — with a focus on mechanisms across ancestries, including African ancestry iPSC models, bridging UK and Nigerian research capacity.
Where does Mahmoud Bukar Maina work?
He is based at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom (Sussex Neuroscience) and builds dual-continent research capacity with partners in Nigeria, including BioRTC and Yobe State University.
How can I contact Mahmoud Bukar Maina?
For speaking, media, collaboration, or supervision, email m.b.maina@sussex.ac.uk, connect on LinkedIn, or visit the Maina Lab site at mainalab.com. This personal site anchors his public profile and writing.
/10 — Contact
Speaking, media, collaboration, or supervision.
Reach out for research partnerships, science communication, or advisory conversations — the same channels you already use on LinkedIn, now anchored here.