Mohamed Mahgoub, MBBS PhD
As a physician, biomedical scientist, and computational biologist, I have honed a diverse set of skills through my work in clinical settings, research labs, and on the Linux terminal. My career has been driven by a passion for understanding the genetic basis of disease, and my long-term goal is to contribute to this field as a physician-scientist. Currently, I am focused on studying the genomics of acute myeloid leukemia, with the aim of uncovering insights that could inform new treatments and therapies. I thrive on collaboration and am always seeking out new opportunities to learn and grow in my work.
Experience
Postdoctoral Research Associate
In my work on acute myeloid leukemia (AML), I explore the complex interplay between genetics, epigenetics, and 3D chromatin structure. Leveraging cutting-edge next-generation sequencing techniques, I aim to deepen our understanding of the underlying mechanisms driving AML and identify new targets for diagnostics and therapeutics. My work is driven by a commitment to pushing the boundaries of what we know about this challenging disease, and ultimately improving outcomes for patients through more precise and effective treatments.
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
During my work in Macfarlan lab at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I was broadly interested in studying the regulation of transposable elements' expression during meiosis. My research explored how mammals evolved self-protection mechanisms during meiosis to prevent homologous recombination at repetitive regions, which could lead to severe genetic disorders. I identified two novel genes (Zcwpw1 and Zcwpw2), which played a critical role in DNA repair during meiotic recombination and were essential for fertility. My work in this field allowed me to gain a wide array of experience in molecular biology, mouse genetics, and computational biology.
PhD Studies
I did my PhD in Matsuoka's lab at Kyoto University, Japan. My study there was a unique research experience, as I worked on projects in a field in which virology, immunology, and cancer all overlap. I studied the molecular mechanisms of viral oncogenesis by using HTLV-1 (Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1) as a model. My focus was on how the virus can establish latency and fine-tune its gene expression to simultaneously evade immunity and manipulate the transcriptome of hosting cells to promote cancer. I used cutting-edge molecular techniques to monitor viral and host gene expression at the single-cell level.
Pediatrics Resident
Resident Doctor in pediatrics Department.
Teaching Assistant
As teaching assistant in department of microbiology at faculty of Medicine, I taught undergraduate medical students in practical sessions. Also I supervised group discussions for clinical-oriented microbiology problems' tutorials.
Medical Intern
Postgraduate medical internship training, rotating between different clinical departments (Medicine, Pediatrics, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Orthopedics).
Education
PhD in Medicine and Medical Science
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS)
Skills
- Basic Molecular techniques (cloning, PCR/qPCR, Sanger sequencing, ELISA, Western blotting/IP, etc.).
- Cell culture, transfection, and lentivirus transduction.
- Flow cytometry and cell sorting.
- Immunofluorescence microscopy and live cell imaging.
- CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing.
- Single cell transcriptome and genome analysis.
- Next generation sequencing using Illumina, PacBio and Oxford Nanopore platforms.
-
Mouse genetics:
- Design of genetic knock-out mouse models using both mouse embryonic stem cells and zygotic injection methods.
- Mouse handling: breeding, genotyping, dissection, etc.
- Advanced bioinformatics analysis using Linux command line and Bash scripting.
- Python
- R
- Design of bioinformatics pipelines using Nextflow workflow management system for large-scale genomic data analysis.
- Postgraduate experience in tutoring medical students in microbiology practical sessions and tutorials.
- Mentoring Clinical fellows in NIH Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Training Program during their research years.
Exams & Licensure
- United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 CK, Score: 238 (2025)
- United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 CK, Pass (2024)
- Sudan Medical Council Full Registration (2009)
Grants
-
National Institutes of Health: NICHD Fellows Recruitment Incentive Award, 2021
- Title: Identification of Novel Dual Histone Methylation Readers Critical for Meiotic Recombination.
-
National Institutes of Health: NICHD Young Investigator Award, 2021
- Title: Studying Expression of Transposable Elements using Long-Read Full-length mRNA Sequencing.
Publications
Hussein O, Mahgoub M, Shichijo T, Nakagawa S, Tanabe J, Akari H, Miura T, Matsuoka M, Yasunaga JI. Evolution of primate T-cell leukemia virus type 1 accessory genes and functional divergence of its antisense proteins. PLoS Pathog. 2025 May;21(5):e1013158. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1013158. eCollection 2025 May. PubMed PMID: 40344170; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC12088518.
PubMed Journal
Hoge C, de Manuel M, Mahgoub M, Okami N, Fuller Z, Banerjee S, Baker Z, McNulty M, Andolfatto P, Macfarlan TS, Schumer M, Tzika AC, Przeworski M. Patterns of recombination in snakes reveal a tug-of-war between PRDM9 and promoter-like features. Science. 2024 Feb 23;383(6685):eadj7026. doi: 10.1126/science.adj7026. Epub 2024 Feb 23. PubMed PMID: 38386752.
PubMed Journal
Mahgoub M, Paiano J, Bruno M, Wu W, Pathuri S, Zhang X, Ralls S, Cheng X, Nussenzweig A,
Macfarlan TS. Dual histone methyl reader ZCWPW1 facilitates repair of meiotic double strand breaks in male
mice. Elife. 2020 Apr 30;9.
PubMed
Journal
Bruno M, Mahgoub M, Macfarlan TS. The Arms Race Between KRAB-Zinc Finger Proteins and
Endogenous Retroelements and Its Impact on Mammals. Annu Rev Genet. 2019 Dec
3;53:393-416.
PubMed Journal
Mahgoub M, Yasunaga JI, Iwami S, Nakaoka S, Koizumi Y, Shimura K, Matsuoka M. Sporadic
on/off switching of HTLV-1 Tax expression is crucial to maintain the whole population of virus-induced
leukemic cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Feb 6;115(6):E1269-E1278.
PubMed Journal
Furuta R, Yasunaga JI, Miura M, Sugata K, Saito A, Akari H, Ueno T, Takenouchi N, Fujisawa JI, Koh KR,
Higuchi Y, Mahgoub M, Shimizu M, Matsuda F, Melamed A, Bangham CR, Matsuoka M. Human T-cell
leukemia virus type 1 infects multiple lineage hematopoietic cells in vivo. PLoS
Pathog. 2017 Nov;13(11):e1006722.
PubMed
Journal
Sugata K, Yasunaga J, Kinosada H, Mitobe Y, Furuta R, Mahgoub M, Onishi C, Nakashima K,
Ohshima K, Matsuoka M. HTLV-1 Viral Factor HBZ Induces CCR4 to Promote T-cell Migration and Proliferation.
Cancer Res. 2016 Sep 1;76(17):5068-79.
PubMed
Journal
Awards & Prizes
- Oral presentation award, The 18th International Conference on Human Retrovirology: HTLV and Related Viruses, Tokyo (March 2017).
- Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship for International students (April 2012).
- University Prize for Best Academic Performance in Pediatrics and Childhood health, University of Khartoum - Faculty of Medicine (2007).
- University Prize for Best Academic performance in 3rd Year, University of Khartoum - Faculty of Medicine (2003).
- University Prize for Best Academic Performance in Physiology, University of Khartoum - Faculty of Medicine (2003).
- 3rd Best Academic performance in Sudanese High Secondary Schools National Exams (2000). This is nationwide university entrance exams in which I scored third among more the 100,000 candidates.
Interests
Apart from biology and medicine, I enjoy reading a book while drinking coffee. I am interested in history and fiction books. Carlos Zafon’s masterpiece “The Shadow of the Wind” is my favorite book. I also enjoy learning to code for fun (and to make my life in science easier!)