Dr Justin Komguep Nono

Justin Komguep Nono is an Immunoparasitologist and molecular biologist specialized in the study of Schistosomiasis and current Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Head of the associated unit of Immunobiology of Helminth Infections at the Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies of Cameroon.


Dr Nono current research interests revolve around the mechanistic bases of human-schistosomes interactions with a focus on host immunological determinants of susceptibility / resistance to infection and pathology and parasite ploys at play to evade the human host immune responses. His research approaches include host omics, immune phenotypic and functional typing, all techniques put to contribution during clinical surveys he primarily carries out in endemic populations from rural Cameroon.


His research work has uncovered new immunomodulatory molecules and evasion strategies from parasitic helminths, set new organ referential for children in central Africa to assess the morbidity of intestinal schistosomiasis and demonstrated the negative influence of schistosomiasis on some anti-viral vaccine responses and is gradually providing a multi-omics-based host signature of Schistosomiasis to complement current diagnostic, prognostic, therapeutic and preventive measures.


These achievements have been made possible through frequent support from the United Nations, the European Union, the German Research Foundation, the United Kingdom Royal Society, the Wellcome Trust, the Claude Leon Foundation, the African Academy of Sciences, through various funding and award schemes.


He is the current co-chair of the UK-based Research Working Group of the Global Schistosomiasis Alliance and a founding member of JRJ Health, a Cameroon-based association for the promotion of Health and well-being; he also serves as the Chief of Service of the Grant Management Office of the Institute for Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies in Cameroon and is a member of other strategic international research societies with leadership positions such as the Vice-president elect of the Cameroon Immunology Society (2025-2026), Executive Committee Member of the Federation of African Immunology Societies (FAIS, 2025-2026), newly selected member of the World Health Organization schistosomiasis subgroup of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) and regular member of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the German Society for Parasitology.


He is an ad hoc reviewer of more than 40 International research journals, universities theses committees, funding agencies such as the European Union and the South African national Research Foundation. He serves as an academic editor for Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases, Frontiers in Tropical Diseases, Journal of Leucocyte Biology, Frontiers in Medicine....


Finally and importantly, Dr Nono also engages in the teaching and training of students as he remains a strong advocate of local capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa in support of the transition towards locally-driven research, to facilitate the control and elimination of Schistosomiasis globally in particular, and foster development in general. With already 20 African scientists trained at the pre- and post-doctoral level, Dr Nono’s vision is to ensure 50 new PhDs are trained in his laboratory during the tenure of his local position.