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Dacquin M. Kasumba

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Associate Professor, University of Kinshasa

Dacquin M. Kasumba is an Associate Professor at Université de Kinshasa, and a Fellow at Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale (INRB) both in D.R.Congo. He started his professional career in the pharma/biotech industry (South Africa) before obtaining his Master's degree in Pharmacology (Pretoria, South Africa). He earned his Ph.D. from Kyoto University, Japan, studying how viruses interact with mammalian hosts to cause diseases. These basic understandings of viral immunology and virology allows the development of treatments and preventive measures against viral diseases. In that optic, his research has so far translated into a patented discovery and characterisation of a molecule having strong immune-modulating capacity. This molecule is currently being evaluated as an anti-SARSCoV2 option at Kyoto University.

His combined skills allowed him to undertake research as a Postdoc (Université de Montréal, Canada) and now as a Senior Fellow (INRB, D.R.Congo) allowing identification of potential targets for development of therapies and vaccines against infectious diseases in general, and viruses in particular. He is currently implicated in a large project characterizing monoclonal antibodies against Ebola virus in collaboration with the NIH. Since obtaining his Ph.D., he has published several immunology and virology articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals. He is a member of the Canadian Society for Virology, the International Society for Cytokines and Interferons, a former Monbukagakushoo and RSR-Q scholar, and an Alumnus of Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2020).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dacquin-kasumba-ph-d-4596803a/  

Experience

  • 2020–present
    Visiting fellow, National Institute of Health
  • –present
    Associate Professor, University of Kinshasa
  • 2020–present
    Research professor, Institut National de Recherche Biomedicale
  • 2018–2020
    Postdoctoral fellow, Universite de Montreal
  • 2014–2017
    Research scientist, Kyoto University
  • 2009–2010
    Lab Technician , Inqaba Biotech Industries

Education

  • 2017 
    Kyoto University, Viral Immunology

Publications

  • 2020
    Influenza A virus NS1optimizes virus infectivity by enhancing genome packaging in a dsRNA-binding dependent manner, https://doi.org/10.1186/s12985-020-01357-3
  • 2020
    Spatio-temporal characterization of the antiviral activity of the XRN1-DCP1/2 aggregation against cytoplasmic RNA viruses to prevent cell death, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-020-0509-0
  • 2019
    Broad and systemic immune-modulating capacity of plant-derived dsRNA, https://doi.org/10.1093/intimm/dxz054
  • 2019
    The combination of IFNβ and TNFα induces an antiviral and immunoregulatory program via non-canonical pathways involving STAT2 and IRF9, https://doi.org/10.3390/cells8080919
  • 2019
    Therapeutic targeting of RIG-I and MDA5 might not lead to the same Rome, https://doi.org/10.1016 /j.tips.2018.12.003
  • 2017
    A Plant-Derived Nucleic Acid Reconciles Type-I IFN and a Pyroptotic-like Event in Immunity against Respiratory Viruses, www.jimmunol.org/cgi/doi/10.4049/jimmunol.1700523
  • 2017
    Immune-modulating capacity of a plant-derived dsRNA and its potential applications: Mo-WS1-4 [Conference abstract], Cytokine 100:27, December 2017

Professional Memberships

  • Canadian Society for Virology (CSV), Member: 2018- current
  • • International Cytokine & Interferon Society (ICIS), Member: 2015- current

Honours

Alumnus of Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2020