Browsing by Author "Maina, Mahmoud, Bukar"

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    African Neuroscience on the Global Stage Nigeria as a Model
    (2018-07-04) Maina, Mahmoud, Bukar; Garba, Yunusu, Mohammed; Maina, Ali, Bukar; Ahmad, Umar; Tijjani, Salihu, Abubakar; Arrashid, Ibrahim, Harun; Abdurrazak, Muhammad; Kwairanga, Hamidu, Suleiman; Yaro, Aisha, Umar; Awadelkareem, Mosab, Ali; Baden, Tom
    Several challenges contribute to Africa’s trailing position in the global production of knowledge. Decades of focused work through international and local programmes have thus far been unable to lift the continent onto its scientific feet. To learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of neuroscience research carried out on the continent today, that would enable the development of robust programmes focusing on specific needs, a strategy is required to extract information about specific contributions of African laboratories. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is among the top beneficiaries of international programmes promoting neuroscience research in Africa. Therefore, to establish and test a framework for evaluating neuroscience output from the continent, we here focussed on Nigeria’s neuroscience publications over the past two decades. Using PubMed key-word search and defined exclusion criteria, we extracted 572 neuroscience articles from Nigeria-based laboratories published between 1996 and 2017. Articles were automatically categorised into clinical and epidemiological studies (55.5%) or basic neuroscience (44.5%) using a support vector machine and decision tree algorithm. From here, we extracted each publication’s use of model species, methods, citations received and the publishing journal’s metrics. We find that over the 21 year period surveyed, only one Nigerian-led neuroscience paper was published in a “top-tier” international journal with an impact factor of >8. However, about half (55%) of PubMed indexed articles were published in reputable journals with an impact factor between 1-4. These publications primarily comprised basic (61%), rather than clinical and epidemiological studies (39%) which were instead mostly published in lower-ranking journals. Next, we find a worrying account of model species and research tools employed in Nigerian-based neuroscience. For example, no studies used genetically amenable model systems such as zebrafish, Drosophila, C.elegans, or transgenic mouse strains. Instead, popular model species were human (54%), rat (30%) and wild-type mice (11%). In line, research techniques employed were dominated by “basic” techniques such as Hematoxylin and Eosin stainings or classical behavioural analysis, with only 8% of studies using more modern techniques like PCR, Western blotting or forms of fluorescence microscopy. Perhaps as one consequence, even though medicinal plants have been used to treat diseases for decades by locals, and 41% of basic neuroscience studies investigated their potential utility in treating disease, none made it into local clinical research. Together, these findings highlight two clear access points for the support of Nigerian neuroscience in the future: Investment in the training and infrastructure in the use of more modern research techniques, and the widespread promotion of genetically amenable model species. Moreover, any such effort might consider specifically targeting existing basic over clinical or epidemiological research efforts. In time, it will be important to also assess the neuroscience output across the entire continent.
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    AfricArXiv – the pan-African Open Scholarly Repository (Overview and Roadmap)
    (2020-09-25) Ahinon, Justin, Sègbédji; Arafat, Hisham; Ahmad, Umar; Achampong, Joyce; Aldirdiri, Osman; Ayodele, Obasegun, Tekena; Bezuidenhout, Louise; Okelo, Luke; Cary, Michael; Fath, Nada; Ksibi, Nabil, Aziz; Zimmer, Niklas, Carl; Nasr, Fayza; Nguemeni, Carine; Maina, Mahmoud, Bukar; Mensah, Priscilla; Obanda, Johanssen; Owango, Joy; Ogunlaja, Ahmed; Simpson, Gregory; Havemann, Johanna
    AfricArXiv is a community-led digital archive for African research working towards building an Africa-owned open scholarly repository; a knowledge commons of African scholarly works. We are partnering with established scholarly repository services to provide a platform for African scientists of any discipline to present their research findings and connect with other researchers – on the African continent and globally. It is our aim to promote discoverability of African research output according to sfDORA : https://sfdora.org/read/ FAIR principles: https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/ Helsinki Initiative on Multilingualism: https://www.helsinki-initiative.org/en To contextualize the above to the African scholarly community we have postulated 10 African Principles for Open Access in Scholarly Communication: https://info.africarxiv.org/african-oa-principles/
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    Science Communication activities and Trust amongst Nigerian scientists and journalists
    (2022-12-09) Weitkamp, Emma; Larbey, Ruth; Maina, Mahmoud, Bukar; Petherick, Katy; Muhammad, Mustapha; Tsanni, Abdullahi; Hong, Xinyang; Al-Gazali, Abdulhamid
    Relatively few studies have explored the communication practices of researchers and journalists working in African contexts. We set out to explore the communication activities undertaken by Nigerian health researchers and journalists, their motivations and the barriers they face in communicating about health topics with lay audiences, as well as their trust in a range of sources of scientific information. The study adopted a survey methodology, recruiting 69 participants at a communications training workshop for both health researchers and journalists. We found high levels of participation in research communication amongst health researchers compared with previous work. While many barriers are similar to those faced by researchers in other contexts, our respondents highlighted that lack of support from managers is a significant hurdle, which has not been highlighted in other studies. Both journalists and researchers primarily communicate science with the aim of educating, informing, entertaining or inspiring their audiences. Regarding trust, both researchers and journalists broadly trust sources linked to science, such as academic journals. However, trust in industry, NGOs and other media was higher amongst journalists than health researchers. Least trust was invested in social media sources, with the exception of material posted on accounts linked to universities.
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    Setting Up A State-Of-The-Art Laboratory In Resource Limited Settings: A Case Study Of The Biomedical Science Research And Training Centre In Northeast Nigeria
    (2023-07-21) Isah, Murtala, Bindawa; Muhammad, Zaid; Lawan, Mohammed, Musa; Alkhamis, Abdulrahman; Goni, Baba; Oakley, Sebastian; Marshall, Karen; Hartig, Renee; Raouf, Issa; Yoshimatsu, T; Chagas, Andre, Maia; Maina, Mahmoud, Bukar
    African science has substantial potential, yet it grapples with significant challenges. Here we describe the establishment of the Biomedical Science Research Centre (BioRTC) in Yobe State, Northeast Nigeria, as a case study of a hub fostering on-continent research and describe strategies to surmount some of these barriers. We detail the steps taken to establish BioRTC, emphasising the critical importance of stakeholder engagement, community involvement, resource optimisation, and collaborations. Although we are in the early stages of our journey, our experience can nonetheless serve as a guide to others embarking on similar endeavours in resource-limited settings. We invite the support and collaboration of those who share our vision and believe in our potential.