AfOx Fellow
2019
Head of Laboratory & Deputy Director General
Department of Vaccinology-Biobanking
International Reference Center Chantal Biya
Cameroon

Research interests

  • Dendritic cell targeted vaccines against HIV-1 and Malaria
  • Characterization of pathogen specific B and T cell 
  • Inflammatory biomarkers of endemic diseases 
  • Surface engineering of RNA coliphage Qβ  for the display of proteins and peptides
  • Clinical evaluation of promising vaccine candidates for challenging infections in Sub saharan Africa

Awards/ Prizes

  • German Academic Exchange award (DAAD award)
  • Rockefeller University, New York, U.S.A Postdoctoral fellowship
  • Rockefeller University, New York, U.S.A Research Associate Fellowship

Prof Godwin Nchinda

Research

Our focus is to develop vaccines that can easily be deployed against challenging and emergent infections in sub Saharan Africa.  In the last 20 years we have focused mainly on dendritic cell targeted vaccine candidates against both HIV-1 and Malaria. However in the last  three years we are equally optimizing the RNA Coliphage Qβ as a nano-biotechnology platform for directed evolutionary selection of immunogens and bio-probes. In this light recombinant Qβ phage particles  bearing immunogens derived from a number of pathogens  including HIV,  Plasmodium falciparum, SARS-CoV-2, MERS , SARS-CoV-1 and the Lassa fever virus have been developed. Data on our HIV and Malaria displayed immunogens have already been published.


We are equally characterizing the immune system of people living in Sub  Saharan Africa. We are also part of a consortium for pathogen genomic characterization of emerging and re-emerging pathogens like the COVID19 virus. We are also involved with biobanking. 

AfOx Fellowship

Godwin was an AfOx-Collaborative Fellow in 2019.

During his 8 week AfOx fellowship in 2019, Godwin was hosted by the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Christ Church College.

Key publications

  • Maamary J, Array F, Gao Q, García-Sastre A, Steinman RM, Palese P, Nchinda G. Newcastle disease virus expressing a dendritic cell-targeted HIV gag protein induces a potent gag-specific immune response in mice. J Virol. 2011 Mar;85(5):2235-46. doi: 10.1128/JVI.02036-10. Epub 2010 Dec 15. PMID: 21159873; PMCID: PMC3067785.
  • Nchinda G, Kuroiwa J, Oks M, Trumpfheller C, Park CG, Huang Y, Hannaman D, Schlesinger SJ, Mizenina O, Nussenzweig MC, Uberla K, Steinman RM. The efficacy of DNA vaccination is enhanced in mice by targeting the encoded protein to dendritic cells. J Clin Invest. 2008 Apr;118(4):1427-36. doi: 10.1172/JCI34224. PMID: 18324335; PMCID: PMC2263146.
  • Nchinda GW, Al-Atoom N, Coats MT, Cameron JM, Waffo AB. Uniqueness of RNA Coliphage Qβ Display System in Directed Evolutionary Biotechnology. Viruses. 2021 Mar 27;13(4):568. doi: 10.3390/v13040568. PMID: 33801772; PMCID: PMC8067240.
  • Sake CS, Ngu L, Ambada G, Chedjou JP, Nji N, Tchadji JC, Lissom A, Tchouangueu TF, Djukouo L, Njambe G, Garcia R, Gutierrez A, Bopda Waffo A, Park CG, Mbacham W, Etoa FX, Nchinda GW. The Effect of Antiretroviral Naïve HIV-1 Infection on the Ability of Natural Killer Cells to Produce IFN-γ upon Exposure to Plasmodium falciparum-Infected Erythrocytes. Biomed Hub. 2017 Apr 21;2(1):1-13. doi: 10.1159/000467386. PMID: 31988903; PMCID: PMC6945957.
  • Ambada GN, Ntsama CE, Nji NN, Ngu LN, Sake CN, Lissom A, Tchouangeu FT, Tchadji J, Sosso M, Etoa FX, Nchinda GW. Phenotypic characterization of regulatory T cells from antiretroviral-naive HIV-1-infected people. Immunology. 2017 Aug;151(4):405-416. doi: 10.1111/imm.12738. Epub 2017 May 18. PMID: 28375551; PMCID: PMC5506422.