Do what matters.

As a caring humanitarian, Dr. Liotta has devoted incredible efforts to improving human health worldwide, especially in underserved regions. Over the past twenty years, he initiated a series of outreach activities to cultivate the next generation of African scientists, implementing unique mechanisms to provide them with the scientific skills and business acumen required to address African healthcare needs.

In 2008, Dr. Liotta started iThemba Pharmaceuticals, a South African biotech firm focusing on developing medicines to treat diseases hitting Africa the hardest, such as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. The company operated under a unique business model: it started out by pursuing contract research work in medicinal chemistry, such as custom synthesis and scale-up synthesis, the revenue from which was then utilized to fund its internal drug discovery efforts. Although a lapse in funding from the South African government led to the shutdown of iThemba Pharmaceuticals, it cultivated many talents in Africa and helped lay the foundation from which a biotechnology industry can grow.

The most recent iteration of Dr. Liotta’s African outreach activities involves an initiative called AHIA (Advancing Healthcare Innovation in Africa). AHIA’s mission is to support and promote the advancement of health innovation and health-related technologies in Africa by advising, educating, and training African scientists in the business and legal aspects of the biotech and pharmaceutical sector. The initiative seeks to address the unique challenges of building Africa’s innovation capacity in drug discovery and development by creating platforms for identifying promising new local technologies, advancing the human capital needed to further those technologies through mentoring and education, and translating the technologies from laboratories to clinics and markets.