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).
Alia Bly
Emory University, USA
Tuesday the 31st of March 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
High-Resolution Metabolomics For Neglected Tropical Diseases: Lessons from Hansen’s Disease
Alia Bly is a Bioinformatics Analyst in the Department of Environmental Health and the Department of Biochemistry at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health and
School of Medicine. She is experienced in computational approaches for transcriptomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics with a particular interest in applications of metabolomics for infectious disease epidemiology.
Alia holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology with concentrations in Genetic, Molecular, and Infectious Disease Epidemiology from Emory University. Her thesis research under the Emory Hansen’s Disease Program employed high-resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics to characterize risk factors for clinically evident Hansen’s disease (leprosy) with a focus on micronutrient and mitochondrial energy metabolism.
Metabolomics is a rapidly improving methodology for the study of risk factors for infectious disease susceptibility and discovery of associated candidate biomarkers. In this talk, Alia will introduce metabolomics as a tool for exploratory research for NTDs using examples drawn from leprosy.
Dr. Moussa Baba Daou
Nouveau Visage, Mali
Tuesday the 28th of April 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Treating noma in Mali
Dr. Daou is a notable Malian medical researcher, often associated with infectious diseases and public health initiatives at the Gabriel Touré University Hospital Center and the Centre International de Recherche et de Formation sur les Maladies Infectieuses in Bamako, focusing on epidemics like COVID-19, where he contributes to testing, research, and preparedness in Mali.
Dr. Daou treats noma patients in Mali through Nouveau Visage, and will share with us more about the programs run in Mali, and the lessons learned throughout the years of care provision.
Dr. Justus Uchenna Onu
Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra State, Nigeria
Tuesday the 26th of May 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Beyond the Scars: The Mental Health Burden of Noma - Lessons from the Integer Study
Dr. Justus Uchenna Onu (MBBS, FWACP, FMCPsych) from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Anambra State, Nigeria completed his residency training in Psychiatry (2012 – 2017) and obtained the Fellowship of the West African Postgraduate Medical College (WAPMC) and the Fellowship of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria (NPMCN) in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Dr. Onu is now a lecturer and a consultant psychiatrist.
Dr Onu's research interests include genetic epidemiology of major mental disorders, addiction psychiatry, in addition to the outcome of mental illness and other chronic medical
conditions in Africa.
Dr. Onu is interested in the mental health aspects of noma, a relative underresearched area. This important aspect needs further exploration to ensure noma care improves mental health of the patient and caregivers. Dr Onu's presentation will provide us with insights into his work into this important aspect of noma.
Dr. Lealem Tilahun Gelaw
Noma surgeon, Ethiopia
Tuesday the 30th of June 2026
at 16h00 to 17h00 South Africa time (UTC/GMT +2 hours).
Noma in Ethiopia
Dr. Lealem Tilahun Gelaw, a Plastic, Reconstructive, and Hand Surgeon and COSECSA Fellow at Jimma University Medical Center, Ethiopia, is currently pursuing a Craniofacial Surgery Fellowship at Chang Gung Hospital, Taiwan. Dr. Gelaw completed his specialty training in Plastic Surgery at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, where he served as Chief Resident. Dr. Gelaw has participated in surgical missions with Second Chance in African countries and provided pre- and post-operative care for Noma patients with Facing Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
After graduation, Dr Gelaw attended Jimma University as an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery, where he performed reconstructive surgeries and mentored medical students and residents. Dr. Gelaw's research includes the patterns of noma survivors in Ethiopia, and after completing his fellowship, he plans to combine advanced surgical expertise with research to provide comprehensive care for patients with Noma and other complex facial deformities.
