John Maina having received his early education in Nairobi (Kenya) and Liverpool (United Kingdom), Professor John Maina was awarded a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVSc) in 1999, for a thesis entitled “Comparative Respiratory Morphology: Functional Design of the Gas Exchangers”.

A veterinarian by profession, he joined the Department of Zoology – University of Johannesburg in 2009. Describing himself as a comparative functional respiratory morphologist, Professor Maina has worked at universities in various parts of the world, including Australia, Kenya, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America and has published prolifically in his area of research, namely respiratory processes and organs.

His papers have been published in international journals of high impact factors and his books published by reputable publishers.

Some of the journals for which he has reviewed papers include: Nature, Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, Journal of Anatomy, Journal of Morphology, Histopathology and Respiration Physiology and Neurobiology Professor.

Maina is an Associate Editor of Frontiers in Zoology, Open Journal of Anatomy, and World Journal of Respirology. He has given inaugural lectures at meetings of the Society for Experimental Biology, British Thoracic Society and the International Society of Ornithology.

His current research thrust is in the areas of three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction as a means of understanding functional morphology, the basis of the strength and structural failure of the avian lung, molecular biology of the development of the avian lung, and cellular and molecular defenses of the lung.

Professor Maina’s Honors and Nominations include: Fellowship of the New York Academy of Sciences; Award of the National Institute of Health and American Physiological Society Research Fellowship tenured at the University of California (San Diego); and appointment to the Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor at McMaster University.