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. Ramat Oyebunmi Braimah (BChD, FAOCMF, FMCDS, FWACS)
Tuesday the 26th of October 2025
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Dr. Ramat Oyebunmi Braimah, a leading Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon from Nigeria, earned his Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He holds fellowships from the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (FMCDS) and the West African College of Surgeons (FWACS), specializing in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. His advanced training includes an AOCMF fellowship at the University of Munich, Germany, under Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Ehrenfeld.
Dr. Braimah is an Associate Professor and Honorary Senior Consultant at Usmanu Danfodiyo University and its Teaching Hospital in Sokoto, where he also serves as Dean of the Faculty of Dental Sciences and a visiting consultant to Noma Children's Hospital, Sokoto.
He has mentored numerous undergraduate and postgraduate students, presented over 80 conference papers globally, and published more than 180 articles in high-impact journals. His notable contributions include the 2018 modification of a classification system for TMJ bony ankylosis and the 2023 Braimah-Taiwo et al classification for mandibulo-maxillary synostosis as a sequelae of noma. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, in collaboration with the University of Iowa, focusing on the multiomics approach to unraveling Noma disease.
Dr. Wendy Thompson
Tuesday the 25th of November 2025
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Appropriate antibiotic treatments for dental conditions
Dr Wendy Thompson is a clinical academic dentist based at University of Manchester, UK. Her research focuses on antibiotic prescribing, resistance and stewardship. She chairs the FDI World Dental Federation task team on Preventing AMR and Infection, including noma. She authored policy statements on AMR and on noma for FDI and the International Association for Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Research.
Effective antibiotics save lives. Keeping antibiotics working means using them only when strictly necessary. Dental pain and infection are generally readily amendable to treatment with a dental procedure (such as extraction or root canal). Without appropriate treatment, however, oral and dental infections can become quickly life threatening - noma is one of these infections. Treatment for noma requires swift access to effective antibiotics. This talk will explore the issues raised in these statements.
Dr. Yuka Makino
December 2025 (date TBC)
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
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.
Dr. Makino will give an update on the WHOs noma actiities since the disaease was officially listed as an NTD in 2023.
