Prof Nkengafac Villyen Motaze is a medical epidemiologist with experience in a wide variety of domains in healthcare, including postgraduate epidemiology training, pharmaco-epidemiology, infectious disease epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, and public health. He has an excellent understanding of the healthcare context in Sub-Saharan Africa, having carried out a variety of research and operational functions in several countries of the African continent. 

Prof Motaze obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree (MD) in 2007 at the University of Yaoundé 1 in Cameroon. He went on to obtain an M.Sc degree in Clinical Epidemiolgy (2013) and a Ph.D. in Epidemiolgy (2021), both at the Stellenbosch University. Since February 2022, he is currently an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at Medicine Usage in South Africa, in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the North-West University, Potchefstroom campus. Prof Motaze is the author/co-author of 20 refereed/peer-reviewed articles, the author of 1 book and has presented at several national and international conferences. He has successfully supervised/co-supervised 6 masters students who graduated from Stellenbosch University, University of Pretoria and University of the Witwatersrand. He has examined 4 Master studies and is currently involved in the supervision of 2 MSc, 3 MPharm and 1 Ph.D. studies. He is currently an associate editor for the Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care (EPOC) review group and a reviewer for several scientific journals including; PlosOne, Vaccines, Proceedings in Obstetrics and Gynecology, International journal of environmental research and public health, Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics and Healthcare. Prof Motaze has occupied several teaching roles. He was a teaching assistant with the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University from June to December 2013. He then served as a guest lecturer for the South African Field Epidemiology Training Program since 2018 and a guest lecturer for the Master of Science in Medicine in the field of Vaccinology program. He has served on two advisory committees: the Scientific Advisory Committee, South Africa Field Epidemiology Training Program (SAFETP) from 2018, onwards and the World Health Organization SAGE Working Group on Measles and Rubella from 2017 to 2018.

I am a Deputy Director of Cochrane South Africa, an intramural unit of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). I am a project leader of the Clinical Trials Registry portfolio (Pan African Clinical Trials Registry (PACTR) and South African National Clinical Trials Registry (SANCTR)). I am also a leader of the vaccine implementation research portfolio of the Unit in which I conduct primary and secondary research on vaccine-related topics. My research expertise is in vaccinology and clinical trial registration. My research centres on systematic reviews and the broader scope of evidence-informed decision-making. I also conduct EIDM training for stakeholders such as the National Advisory Group on Immunisation in Africa, students, and policymakers. I have been involved in numerous working groups at a national and international level providing my expertise in evidence-informed decision-making.

I have published in peer-reviewed high-impact factor journals. Additionally, I participate in community engagement projects and knowledge sharing, where she serves as a non-executive director and board chair of Eh! Woza, a non-profit organisation that seeks to advance community engagement on relevant public health issues such as COVID-19 and TB.