Building pan-African Bioinformatics Capacity
University of Dar es Salaam, Dept. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and UDSM College of Medical and Allied Sciences
Member Node
University of Dar es Salaam, Dept. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and UDSM College of Medical and Allied Sciences
Member Node
Prof Slyvester Lyantagaye - Principal, UDSM College of Medical and Allied Sciences
Sylvester Lyantagaye is Associate Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania. After completing his PhD in Biochemistry in 2005, he undertook a two-years postdoctoral research fellowship in the area of bioinformatics and genomic medicine. Since then, he teaches Biochemistry, Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology to BSc, MSc, and PhD programmes. His areas of research interests are Functional Genomics and Molecular Medicine, and medicinal natural products. Specific research projects managed so far are: Current: 1. The significance of the microbiome in Push Pull management. Funded by Sida. 2. Capacity building in molecular biosciences project. Funded by Sida. 3. H3ABioNet - a sustainable African Bioinformatics Network. The network aims to support genomics and bioinformatics components of H3Africa research projects and Collaborative Centres; to thereby increase research output in genomic medicine and biological information translation from Africa. Funded by NIH USA. 4. Targeting disease-specific alternative splicing "signature" with natural products that may serve as novel drugs or lead compounds. A Tanzania-South Africa bilateral collaborative research in biotechnology. Funded by NRF/COSTECH. Completed: 1. Improvement of cashew and cassava crops production through bio-prospecting a newly found macro-fungal parasite and promoting beneficial utilization of natural biopesticides for controlling of some indigenous crops in southern African regions. A Tanzania-South Africa bilateral collaborative research in biotechnology. Funded by NRF/COSTECH. 2. INDUSTRIAL ENZYMES FOR SUSTAINABLE BIO-ECONOMY: Large scale production and application in industry, environment, and agriculture" The main objectives of this study are therefore, to scale up production, optimize enzyme stabilization and formulation, and test the enzymes under application conditions. Funded by Sida. 3. POL-SABINA (Policy and Support Actions for Southern African Natural Product Partnership). Funded through the EU-ACP programme. 4. Biosafety project, a collaborative project between partners in Denmark and three East African countries. Funded by DANIDA. 5. Southern African Biochemistry and Informatics for Natural Products (SABINA). Funded by the Carnegie Corporation.
BioinformaticsGenomicsBiomedical ScienceDrug Discovery Functional GenomicsMicrobiologyMolecular Biology
Ms. Aneth David - Assistant Lecturer
Aneth David is an early career academic and research scientist at University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania, where she works as an Assistant Lecturer. She is also a sandwich PhD student between the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and UDSM. Her PhD research project investigates the influence of soil microbiome on effectiveness of "push-pull" technology, push-pull being an intercropping pest management system for smallholder cereal farming. Her interest on bioinformatics data analysis applications begun during her MSc. studies that established basis for Bacillus spp. plant growth promotion activities as biocontrol and bio-fertilization agents in Tanzania. Laboratory and greenhouse studies of the strains' activity was followed by genomic comparison between active and non-active strains to identify potential molecular markers. She is also interested on science diplomacy and scientific communication. Aneth is a UDSM H3ABioNet node ambassador and is a member of several professional networks including "Next Einstein Forum (NEF)" Community of Scientists (where she is also in the executive committee), African Society for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (ASBCB) and Biotechnology Society of Tanzania (BST). Aneth is passionate about science, education and gender equality causes. On her spare time, she enjoys reading, traveling and sharing knowledge through blogging, social media and Wikipedia contributions. She currently lives in Dar-es-Salaam, the business capital of Tanzania.
BioinformaticsGenomicsAgricultural ScienceComparative Genomics Functional GenomicsMicrobiologyMolecular BiologyData Visualization Gene and Protein FamiliesMetagenomicsPhylogenomicsSequence Analysis Sequence Assembly
Mr Reuben Maghembe - PhD Student
Reuben Maghembe is a PhD student in the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). Reuben completed his BSc in 2010 at UDSM and his MSc in at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA).His research interests lie in the areas of genomics and biochemistry, including genome wide association studies (GWAS), metagenomics, pharmacogenomics and drug discovery. Reuben's current research focuses on metagenomics and molecular variables that determine the role of microalgae as sources of antiviral agents. Reuben is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Laboratory Technology at Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT). Reuben lives in Dar es Salaam where apart from academics he enjoys music and swimming as part of his recreation.
Biomedical ScienceGenomicsDrug DiscoveryEpigenetics PharmacogenomicsMicrobiologyMolecular BiologyVirology
Dr. Cyprian Mpinda - Lecturer
Cyprian Mpinda is a Lecturer and researcher at The Department of Molecular biology and Biotechnology, University of Dar es Salam, Tanzania. He finished his PhD in Biotechnology in 2018 and his work was focused on assessing the anti HIV, activities of extracts of some plants species which are used in managing HIV/AIDS in the country. Prior to that, his MSc in Biochemistry study was based on cytokine profiling for pregnant women with or without pre-eclampsia in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. As a lecturer, he is currently engaged in teaching Biochemistry, Industrial biotechnology and methods in microbiology for undergraduate students at the University of Dar es Salaam. Also, his research is now focused on identifying, documenting and validating plants that are used by local traditional healers in management of diseases such as cancer, TB and cancer with prospects of integrating with bioinformatics tools with his research. Of recent, Cyprian Mpinda has received a research grant on "Screening for Anticancer Splicing and anti-HIV-1 Activity from Tanzania Medicinal Plants" awarded by The University of Dar es Salaam.
Biomedical ScienceMicrobiologyDrug DiscoveryMedical Biotechnology
Ms Bernadether Rugumisa - Student
Bernadether Rugumisa is an Assistant Lecturer in molecular biology and bioinformatics. She is also a PhD student in molecular bio-sciences with major in bioinformatics. In an extra-curriculum life Bernadether is fond of cooking and she engages herself in cake making for different occasions.
BioinformaticsMolecular Biology 
