Monthly Noma Webinars
Monthly seminars will be held on the last Tuesday of each month from 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa Standard Time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Dr. Marta Ribes
ISGlobal
Tuesday the 25th of August 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Review of noma cases in Spain
Dr. Marta Ribes is a postdoctoral researcher specialized in noma epidemiology at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). She holds a PhD in Noma Epidemiology, an MSc in Global Health, and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Barcelona, as well as a MSc in Neuroscience from Sorbonne Université.
Since 2022, she has dedicated herself to raising awareness of noma through research and public outreach. During her doctoral studies, she led a landmark project in Zambezia that provided the first-ever scientific evidence of noma's presence in Mozambique and which revealed an incidence estimate comparable to that in countries typically thought to bear a higher noma incidence, like Nigeria. Currently, she is involved in several research projects in Mozambique and Togo which seek to better map and quantify noma's burden of disease.
Ultimately, she strives to translate research results into action, walking toward the prevention of future cases and the improvement of the livelihoods of noma survivors.
Dr Yuka Makino
WHO
Tuesday the 24th of November 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Presentation of the noma control technical brief as part of the WHO NTDs Road map 2021-2030
Dr Yuka Makino has been a technical officer for oral health at the WHO Regional Office for Africa since August 2019. Her main responsibilities are to implement the Global and Regional Strategy on Oral Health and the Regional Noma Control Programme through supporting Member States to develop
and implement the national oral health policy/action plan; and building the capacity of the focal points of oral health at the ministry of health to accelerate oral health agenda.
Dr Makino holds a PhD in Preventive Dentistry, an MSc in Public Health (Health Promotion), and a Doctor of Dental Surgery.
