Latifat is a professor of Population and Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and an adjunct research fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos. She currently serves as an advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the TDR Implementation Research core competency framework and is a member of the research committee of the Ekurhuleni District in Gauteng Province, South Africa. She holds a PhD in Demography and Population Studies, MSc (Med) in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MSc in Population Studies, and a BSc (Honours) in Statistics. She also holds certifications in many specialized populations, health, development, and management training programs. Since 1988, she has garnered considerable experience in Population and Public Health matters, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (having lived and worked in the western, eastern, and southern regions of the continent).

Currently, she serves as the academic coordinator of the MSc Epidemiology Programme of the Wits School of Public Health. She teaches and coordinates a broad range of courses, including Epidemiology, Research Methods, Implementation Science, and Quality Improvement Science. She also supervises postgraduate research as well as mentors and coaches students and junior colleagues. Her varied and growing managerial responsibilities also mean that she is involved in a myriad of facilitation, resource management, representation, and networking activities.

Prior to her current employment, she worked in government, international and research institutions including the National Population Commission, Nigeria; UNICEF, Nigeria; the African Population and Health Research Centre, Kenya, and the Wits Graduate Programme in Demography and Population Studies. Her research focus is on promoting the sexual and reproductive health and well-being of the African population using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Her work is notable in adolescent, maternal and child health issues and HIV.