Sadia TINA
PhD Candidate
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Occupation:PhD Candidate
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EDUCATION:MSc
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
Sadia Tina is originally from Mali and is a BRAINS scholarship awardee. He is a PhD candidate in Pharmacology, developing advanced skills in pharmaceutical research and the analysis of bioactive compounds.
At RIRCA, Sadia’s work focuses on investigating the biological potential of medicinal plant extracts from Morocco and his home country, Mali, through an integrated experimental and computational approach. His project begins with evaluating the cytotoxicity of crude plant extracts on THP-1 and HUVEC cell lines to ensure their safety, before assessing their ability to reduce oxidative stress in placental cells and to promote angiogenesis through in vitro assays. From there he will identify and quantify the active compounds using HPLC and GC-MS analysis. Finally, Sadia will apply bioinformatics tools to predict how these compounds interact with relevant molecular targets and receptors, working to understand the mechanisms behind their effects.
What Sadia is most proud of is contributing to transforming ancestral knowledge into scientifically validated evidence. Medicinal plants are widely used across many societies based on tradition, often without rigorous scientific support. He aims to bridge that gap – providing solid experimental and analytical data that can confirm, explain, and potentially optimise these traditional practices.
INTERVIEWS
INTRODUCTION
Sadia TINA is a PhD candidate in Pharmacology on a mission to turn centuries of traditional plant wisdom into rigorous, evidence-based science.
Sadia originally from Mali, earned his Master’s in Human Pathology Biology (BIOPATH SCAN) at Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco and joins RIRCA for 12 months through the MoBility for Research and African Integration through Health Sciences (BRAINS) project.
Sadia is investigating the biological potential of medicinal plant extracts from Morocco and Mali, using an integrated approach that spans:
🌱 Cytotoxicity testing on THP-1 and HUVEC cell lines
🩸 Oxidative stress assessment in placental tissue
🔬 In vitro angiogenesis assays
⚗️ Phytochemical profiling
💻 Bioinformatics modelling to predict how these compounds interact with key molecular targets
What is he most proud of? “Transforming ancestral knowledge into scientifically validated evidence.”
In many communities across Africa, medicinal plants are trusted, but often without scientific data to back up that trust. Sadia’s mission is to bridge that gap: to honour tradition while arming it with science. 💪🏾
YOUR CURRENT PROJECT
Behind the RIRCA Science with Sadia TINA. 🔬
🎬 Cells, plant extracts, microscopes – this is a glimpse into Sadia’s daily life in the lab. This is the work behind his mission to turn ancestral African plant knowledge into evidence-based science.
🌿 In his native French with English captions.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Behind the RIRCA Science with Sadia TINA. 🔬
🎬 Cells, plant extracts, microscopes – this is a glimpse into Sadia’s daily life in the lab. This is the work behind his mission to turn ancestral African plant knowledge into evidence-based science.
🌿 In his native French with English captions.
FUTURE PLANS
Sadia TINA’s Future Plans. 🔬🌿
Sadia’s vision for what immunology can do for Africa is inspiring. Sadia sees immunology as a bridge between ancestral knowledge and modern, accessible healthcare.
In the next decade, he hopes to help transform that traditional medicine into safe, effective and affordable treatments.
By combining biological assays, phytochemical analysis and bioinformatics to understand exactly how natural compounds work, and why they work. Sadia aims to identify active compounds and understand their mechanisms of action, particularly in relation to immune responses, oxidative stress, and angiogenesis.
