Acting Dean
Dr Fiona Makoni
Qualifications: MPH (Masters in Public Health) (Emory University, USA,1996); MuDr (Stomatology/Dentistry) (University of J P Safarik, Republic of Slovakia,1991); PGD (Post Grad in Research Ethics) (University of Cape Town, RSA, 2011); HEALZ (Cert Health Education and Leadership, 2015)
Dr Fiona Makoni is a Senior Lecturer and former Chairperson of the Department of Oral Health. She is Acting Dean in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences from August 2022. She studied for her first degree in Dentistry in Czechoslovakia, graduating with distinctions. She obtained her Master’s degree in Public Health at Emory University in the United States as a Fellow of the WK Kellogg Foundation, majoring in International Health and Epidemiology. She obtained a postgraduate diploma in Research Ethics from the University of Cape Town in South Africa. In 2012, she was the inaugural recipient of the Tony Volpe Award by the Global Dental Child Network in the United Kingdom.
She is dedicated to professional excellence in clinical practice and professional service. She has worked as the Director of Government Dental Services in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. She is past President of the Zimbabwe Dental Association and first woman to hold that position in the association and has chaired Practice Management and the Peer Review committees.
She has served on the Medical and Dental Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe in the past and in the current council. She also served on the first council of the Women’s University in Africa. She is a member of the Joint Research and Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals. She also serves her community through various Boards and Committees as well as counselling. She joined the University of Zimbabwe in 1999 and was involved in the establishment of the Bachelor of Dental Surgery training programme. Her main areas of research have been in caries epidemiology and she was involved in studies in the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment technique as a treatment modality for dental caries, leading to the adoption of the technique by WHO. She also has keen interest and experience in clinical and research ethics as well as medical education that she is currently pursuing at master’s degree level.