Ghana: Priscilla Kolibea Mante, in search of better therapies for epilepsy

Priscilla Kolibea Mante is looking for better ways to treat epilepsy and other neurological disorders. For several years, this Ghanaian neuropharmacologist, a lecturer at Kwame Nkrumah University, has been researching plants that can be used to make drugs for the treatment of these diseases. In 2019, she was awarded the L’Oréal Unesco “Women and Science” Prize.

Very studious and disciplined since her childhood, Priscilla Kolibea Mante has lost none of this character over the years. She spends her time rigorously studying African medicinal plants, generally used to stop convulsions, to improve the treatment of epilepsy, a disease still little known in Africa. In addition to her work to contribute to the development of more effective drugs to cure epilepsy and other neurological pathologies, the Ghanaian scientist aims to facilitate the diagnosis of epilepsy, which is still a luxury in Africa.

As a neuropharmacologist, she studies the effect of drugs on biological systems. A sub-field of pharmacy that she discovered through one of her mentors, a professor of pharmacology, after graduating in 2008 with a degree in pharmacology. As a student pharmacologist, she made rounds in hospitals to ensure that the drugs administered to patients are effective and to rectify side effects. During these tours, she met people with epilepsy and became interested in this disease caused by a disorder of the central nervous system.  She decided to focus her research on this disorder, and to explore the effectiveness of medicinal plants, commonly used in Ghana, to treat the disease. In 2013, she obtained her PhD from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She then continued with a postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan Medical School between 2017 and 2018. Thereafter, she held several positions at Kwame Nkrumah University, until becoming a senior professor in the Department of Pharmacology.

Researching Kyenkyen and the bellyache bush

As a researcher, she is studying a plant widely found in Ghanaian forests, called Kyenkyen. This plant is traditionally used as an anti-convulsant to prevent and reduce epileptic fits. Her research confirms that this plant has chemical properties to manage temporal lobe epilepsy. In her work, she also discovered that extracts from the leaves, roots and fruit of the bellyache bush contain products that have anti-convulsant effects.

She is currently focusing her research on understanding the genetic basis of epilepsy in drug-resistant patients. The aim is to develop personalised medicines that can be used in combination with currently available drugs.

In 2019, she was part of a sub-committee of 30 experts, as part of a commission set up by French President Emmanuel Macron, to contribute to the report of the Gender Equality Advisory council of the Group of 7 and to promote women scientists and science in Africa.

In the same year, she won the L’Oréal Unesco “Women in Science” Award.