Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson: Hemp Processing, Extraction and Testing

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Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson, Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK
2023 Cornell University Hemp Webinar Series
May 3, 2023

Jamila La Malfa-Donaldson is an industrial hemp PhD researcher with experience in the testing, processing and cultivation of industrial hemp. Prior to her PhD at Aberystwyth University, Jamila completed a 4-year integrated Masters undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering with Business Organisation and Management at the University of Birmingham. Her Masters research project involved food formulation, specifically investigating alternatives to the use of sulphites to preserve fruit.

During her studies and following her graduation, Jamila also worked as a Science Communicator for several years, managing and delivering hands-on STEM clubs and workshops to inspire students across the UK and abroad.

Her PhD project was the first at Aberystwyth University to investigate the performance of hemp in Wales. She developed an LC-MS analytical method to determine changes in the cannabinoid and flavonoid composition of several hemp cultivars grown in the field and greenhouses.

Her work also involved investigating processing and purification methods to obtain therapeutic compounds from hemp waste. She is growing an extensive network across the hemp industry and has been invited to take part in panels, articles, webinars, funding bids and a documentary to share her expertise. She won Aberystwyth University’s 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in 2022 and has recently received Innovate UK’s Young Innovators Award.

In the final year of her PhD, Jamila pitched her hemp business idea and won funding from Aberystwyth Univerisity’s InvEnterPrize competition. Following the competition, she founded PROHEMPOTIC her startup dedicated to supporting the hemp industry with innovation and launched her hemp food brand, Akene.

Jamila is excited to share what she is learning about the value hemp can offer to help people and the planet.