Dineo Lioma leverages AI and African genomic data to develop tailored healthcare solutions for Africa.
South Africa’s Dineo Lioma uses AI, African genomic data, and digital health platforms to build faster, more accurate, and locally relevant healthcare solutions across Africa. As a biomedical scientist and entrepreneur, Lioma is focused on fixing the fragmented, under-resourced healthcare system that fails to serve millions.
Trained in nanotechnology and biomedical science, Dineo Lioma founded Deep Medical Therapeutics. This health tech company uses artificial intelligence and African genomic data to drive precision medicine on the continent. She is also the founder of Docotela, a telehealth platform that makes doctor consultations accessible through video, voice, or chat.
At the heart of Lioma’s work is the urgent reality that Africa carries 25% of the world’s disease burden but hosts only 2% of global clinical trials. This means medical diagnostics, drugs, and therapies are rarely tested on or developed for Africans, resulting in inaccurate diagnoses, misprescriptions, and subpar healthcare outcomes.
Deep Medical Therapeutics is tackling this head-on by creating a secure platform where hospitals and labs can upload anonymised patient data. Using AI, the platform analyses this data to better understand African patient profiles and develop diagnostics and treatments that are locally relevant. The ultimate goal is to cut diagnostic waiting times, which currently can take six months or more, to under 48 hours.
Lioma describes her platform as an “Amazon for health data,” which respects privacy while offering researchers and pharmaceutical companies access to aggregated insights that can improve health outcomes in Africa. The company is currently focused on diseases that disproportionately affect Africans, such as HIV, hypertension, and certain cancers, and aims to become a key driver in the continent’s push toward personalised medicine.
Linking patients to proper healthcare through tech
While Deep Medical Therapeutics manages the data and diagnostic aspects, Docotela focuses on access. Established in 2022, Docotela connects users to licensed, local doctors through smartphones. Patients can consult with doctors via video call, voice, or chat, receive prescriptions, and obtain referrals, all without having to visit a clinic.
The platform especially appeals to employers and insurers seeking to reduce absenteeism and healthcare costs. It is already being utilised by businesses aiming to provide healthcare benefits to their staff more flexibly and digitally.
Dineo Lioma, a serial technopreneur
Dineo Lioma is not new to the health tech scene. She co-founded CapeBio Technologies, which developed South Africa’s first locally produced COVID-19 testing kits. She also co-founded Incitech, where she helped create a nanotechnology-powered rapid HIV diagnostic test.
In addition to her ventures, she serves on the board of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, where she supports entrepreneurs working on high-impact projects. Her work is backed by a belief that Africa must build systems designed around its people and health realities, not imported solutions that don’t fit.
The female tech founder combines AI, biotechnology, and digital infrastructure to re-engineer how healthcare works, who it includes, and how fast it responds.
