Nigel Aminake Makoah

Dr. Nigel Aminake Makoah Ph.D

Skill: Protein biochemistry and drug discovery expert for the infectious disease of Malaria and Tuberculosis

Affiliations: Pr.Sci.Nat is a lecturer and researcher at the Division of Virology at the Faculty of Health Science of the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Research Interest: His main interest is a therapeutic discovery and assay development for the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Dr. Nigel Aminake Makoah brings on board a wealth 0f experience to make the Special Journal of Biochemistry the best information hub for sustainable development

Biography of Nigel Aminake Makoah

Prior, I was a Senior Protein Biochemist at the National Institute for Comm Diseases, Johannesburg where I oversaw the design and production of complex proteins that will be used to isolate rare HIV-specific B cells by flow cytometry for the antibody discovery project. I obtained a master’s degree in Biochemistry at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon in 2006, after that he worked with the Walter Reed Johns Hopkins Cameroon Program (WRJHCP) for two years in a joint project between the WRJHCP and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, the USA with the aim to understand the origin of malignant malaria.

Nigel Aminake Makoah at the University of Wuerzburg

Nigel Aminake Makoah later moved to Germany in 2009 and completed a Ph.D. in Molecular Parasitology at the University of Wuerzburg in 2012. During my Ph.D. studies, I assessed novel pharmacological compounds for their dual activity against the malaria parasite as well as against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the causative agent of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). I also characterized the malaria parasite’s proteasome in the search for potential therapeutic targets.

Nigel Aminake Makoah Post Doctoral Fellowship

Nigel Aminake Makoah received the prestigious Georg Forster Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation. I moved to the RWTH Aachen University where he closely worked with colleagues at the Fraunhofer IME to develop an antimalarial screening platform, which aimed at two targets –

(i) the malaria proteasome and (ii) the developing gametocyte.

Nigel Aminake Makoah at the University of Cape Town

In 2014, I relocated at the department of chemistry at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular medicines of the University of Cape Town where I received an NRF/DST innovation Postdoctoral award and The Carnegie Corporation ‘Developing the Next Generation of Academics’ Fellowship to evaluate the pharmacokinetic properties of drug candidates and to identify potential drug target in an effort to discover new molecules against tuberculosis. Nigel Aminake Makoah has experience in the field of protein biochemistry and drug discovery and Nigel Aminake Makoah will be using that to contribute to the global effort to prevent and treat infectious diseases.

Selected most cited publications Dr. Nigel Aminake Makoah

1. SM Rich, FH Leendertz, G Xu, M LeBreton, CF Djoko, MN Aminake, The origin of malignant malaria, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (35), 14902-14907
2. MN Aminake, S Schoof, L Sologub, M Leubner, M Kirschner, HD Arndt, Thiostrepton and derivatives exhibit antimalarial and gametocytocidal activity by dually targeting parasite proteasome and apicoplast
   Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 55 (4), 1338-1348
3. S Schoof, G Pradel, MN Aminake, B Ellinger, S Baumann, M Potowski, Antiplasmodial thiostrepton derivatives: proteasome inhibitors with a dual mode of action, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 49 (19), 3317-3321
4. MN Aminake, HD Arndt, G Pradel, The proteasome of malaria parasites: A multi-stage drug target for chemotherapeutic intervention? International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance 2, 1-10
5. MN Aminake, A Mahajan, V Kumar, R Hans, L Wiesner, D Taylor, Synthesis and evaluation of hybrid drugs for a potential HIV/AIDS-malaria combination therapy, Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry 20 (17), 5277-5289
6. CJ Ngwa, M Scheuermayer, GR Mair, S Kern, T Brügl, CC Wirth, Changes in the transcriptome of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum during the initial phase of transmission from the human to the mosquito
   BMC genomics 14 (1), 256
7. S Tschan, AJ Brouwer, PR Werkhoven, AM Jonker, L Wagner, S Knittel, .Broad-spectrum antimalarial activity of peptido sulfonyl fluorides, a new class of proteasome inhibitors, Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy 57 (8), 3576-3584
8. R Ettari, A Pinto, L Tamborini, IC Angelo, S Grasso, M Zappalà, .Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Papain‐Family Cathepsin L-like Cysteine Protease Inhibitors Containing a 1, 4‐Benzodiazepine Scaffold as Antiprotozoal Agents ChemMedChem 9 (8), 1817-1825,
9. MN Aminake, G Pradel, Antimalarial drugs resistance in Plasmodium falciparum and the current strategies to overcome them, Microbial pathogens and strategies for combating them: science, technology

   Nigel Aminake Makoah as the Editor, Special Journal of Biochemistry

10. The office of the Chief editor of Special Journal of Biochemistry is challenging but promising.  This initial expectation from this office include but not limited to being responsible for the following:
11. the fast and transparent peer review process
12. Providing the final judgment on the articles
13. The editor should remember the policy of fast and effective peer review and further  process,
14. responsible for any query regarding reconsideration of
15. selecting potential reviewers
16. responsibility to contact selected reviewers
17. convey the expectations of the journal to the reviewers
18. The editor should keep in mind the time required for reviewing articles
19. If any special issue proposal is submitted to
20. Allow for the timely topics and suggest potential guest Editors
21. Editors should ensure the smooth functioning of the whole process in
22. Editors should provide time to time input regarding the targeted readers’ Editors should comply with the guidelines and protocols provided by the publishing house.