Dr Nehemiah Latolla, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Nelson Mandela University’s Department of Human Physiology, has been awarded an Australia-Africa Universities Network Partnership Research and Development Fund grant for his project to co-create sustainable cancer and environmental health solutions from African medicinal plants.
Latolla told Daily Maverick that since working in his grandmother’s medicinal garden, he’d always known he wanted to help heal people, but “medicine was not for me”.
“I had a sister who was studying nursing, and all the blood and guts, that was too much,” he said.
Instead, his love of chemistry took him on a path that has now culminated in a grant to study the potential of the Eastern Cape’s indigenous plants to fight cancer.
“My granny’s medicinal garden was the first point of contact for me,” he said. “I listened to all the stories she told, but as a teenager, it wasn’t seen as cool any more to use plants for healing – it was seen as folklore and witchcraft.”
His organic chemistry studies led to him investigating the well-known indigenous Dawidtjieswortel (Cissampelos Capensis), a well-known indigenous plant, and to look at how medicinal plants can be used sustainably.
He also explored the potential of indigenous plants to assist in the treatment of diabetes, and for his PhD, found “promising results”. For this research, he studied the Dawidtjieswortel and Strychnos Henningsii, also known as the Bosolienhout, Rooibitterbessie or Koffiehardepeer – a plant found elsewhere in Africa, too.
Latolla’s post-doctoral studies took him into cell work, to studying when a plant becomes toxic and at what levels it is safe to use. This, he explained, would assist in seeing how tumours react to certain plant compounds.
Principal investigator
Latolla will serve as principal investigator on one of only eight projects selected globally.
“There is a wealth of knowledge out there,” he said, “with these secrets being passed down through the generations.”
During his research, he will use a medicinal garden created by the NMU. “It will be community work centred on trust and relationships,” he said. He intends to use an artificial intelligence language model to enable citizen science to be preserved.
Holistic treatment
His studies will focus on a plant-based treatment for breast cancer. “But the indigenous knowledge is not always specific about the type of cancer for which a plant will be good,” he said.
He plans to spend more time with traditional practitioners of plant medicine and “figure out how to treat disease holistically”.
Their work to evaluate traditional knowledge would begin in 2026.
In the project, sustainable agriculturists will cultivate the plants to be used in ways that protect biodiversity, soil health, and natural resources. Laboratory studies will be conducted at NMU, said Latolla, who recently represented NMU at the Australia-Africa Universities Network forum and annual meeting in Perth.
The project is a collaboration between Nelson Mandela University, the University of New South Wales, Curtin University, and the University of Ghana.
Dr Priscilla Mensah, director of Research Development, said: “Dr Latolla’s achievement reflects the calibre and ambition of Mandela University’s emerging researchers. His success in securing highly competitive international funding speaks to his scientific excellence and the strength of collaborative partnerships that place African knowledge and innovation at the centre.”
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