Dr Mahaman L. Moustapha

I am a Wellcome Trust Career Development Award Fellow and a parasitologist with interest in malaria biology, molecular epidemiology, and vector ecology. I am a lecturer in parasitology, entomology and microbiology at the Université André Salifou of Zinder, UAS (Niger Republic), previously served as Head of the Department of Biological Sciences (2022–2025) and I lead the Ecology, Health and Environment (ECOSEN) research team within the Sahelo-Saharan Biodiversity Ecology Laboratory in UAS, Zinder.

I obtained my PhD in Biology and Human Pathology (Parasitology) from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, on molecular epidemiology of malaria parasites and antimalarial drug resistance markers in Niger and West Africa. My academic training also includes a Master's degree in Immunology and Infection from the same university and postgraduate studies in Animal Biology and Physiology at Mouloud Mammeri University in Algeria, as well as internships in parasitology laboratories in France.

I have contributed to major international collaborative studies, leading to several primary and policy-shaping translational publications in diverse fields.

My research focuses on malaria transmission biology, parasite-vector interactions, and molecular surveillance of antimalarial resistance in Africa. I integrate field entomology, molecular parasitology and epidemiology to understand the ecological and evolutionary drivers of malaria transmission in the Sahel. A central theme of my current research is the interaction between malaria parasites, mosquito vectors, and microbial symbionts, and how these interactions influence malaria transmission and the effectiveness of vector control strategies.

In addition to vector biology, my research contributes to genomic surveillance of antimalarial drug resistance markers and evaluation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention strategies, meningitis, diphtheriae, Leishmania and pathogenic protozoans, placing me in an excellent position to lead the Pathogen Biology Research Cluster at CTID^R.