John Maina

Professional Background

I was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya. I earned my bachelor's and master's degrees in medical microbiology at Jomo Kenyatta University, Kenya. After my alma mater, I joined the lab of Dr. John Kiiru at the Center for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, as a research assistant. Here, my research work focused on establishing drivers and mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance in community and hospital-acquired bacterial pathogens.

Following one year in the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences, my interests shifted to research in Cancer Biology. I joined the lab of John Perry, Ph.D., and am currently working to establish how CCR2 inhibitors affect niche and the release of bone marrow-derived leukocytes following ionizing radiation exposure.

In addition, I am also interested in unraveling the mechanism leading to enhanced effector T-cell response following low doxorubicin treatment in Acute myeloid Leukemia tumor models. Outside of Biomedical Research, I enjoy playing soccer and watching nature documentaries.

Mentor: John Perry