Rate My Professor Lisa Buwa

Associate Professor Lisa Valencia Buwa-Komoreng is a South African botanist and medicinal plant researcher with over two decades of experience in ethnobotany, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and plant physiology. Her research career began in 1999 at the University of Fort Hare, where early field and laboratory work on medicinal plants cultivated a lifelong dedication to understanding, validating, and conserving South African traditional medicinal knowledge. This foundation led to advanced postgraduate training, culminating in a PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2006. She holds a BSc (Botany and Chemistry) from the University of Fort Hare (1999), a BSc Honours in Botany from the University of Fort Hare (2001), and an MSc in Botany from Rhodes University (2003). Buwa-Komoreng currently serves as Associate Professor of Botany at the University of Fort Hare in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture and holds the DSTI-NRF SARChI Chair in Medicinal Plants and Drug Development. Her previous leadership roles include Deputy Dean: Teaching & Learning and Head of Department. Her research focuses on the biological activity and pharmacological potential of traditional medicinal plants used to treat venereal diseases, tuberculosis, elephantiasis, cancer, skin diseases, ENT infections, and other ailments. She has published peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Pharmaceuticals, Molecules, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, South African Journal of Botany, and Journal of Ethnopharmacology. Buwa-Komoreng has presented at national and international conferences, including those of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology. She serves as Topic Coordinator for a Special Issue in Frontiers in Nutrition and reviews for multiple journals. She holds positions on the Fort Cox Agriculture and Forestry Training Institute Council, the University of Fort Hare Senate, and related committees, and is a member of the Society for Medicinal Plants and Economic Development. She has secured competitive funding, including a R2 million Water Research Commission grant (2024–2028), and supervises numerous postgraduate students. As SARChI Chair, her programme emphasises pharmacological assessment of medicinal plants, phytochemical profiling, toxicological evaluation, drug discovery, and preservation of indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge.