Dr. Nikki Allorto is the president of the South African Burns Society and founder of the Burn Care Trust. . In 2006 during her community service year that she took an interest in the plight of burn victims. She completed her general surgical training at the Nelson Mandela school of medicine, University of Kwa Zulu Natal and was admitted to the College of Surgeons of South Africa in 2010. She was awarded the traveling fellowship from the Association of Surgeons of South Africa and spent 3 months at Sydney’s Concord General Repatriation Hospital under the Burn Unit Director Peter Maitz. She has directed many Emergency Management of Severe Burns courses around South Africa and in Kenya.

Dr Allorto is involved in initiatives aimed at uplifting burn care in Africa as well. She’s now focusing on the idea of creating a ‘skin bank’, similar to an organ bank. Allorto’s passion for this cause is clear, as she gives inspiring talks about the management of burns to the local doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians and pharmacists.

Cassidy-Mae Shaw is a Clinical Psychologist with a Master of Social Science in Clinical Psychology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is currently completing a PhD that explores the use of a competency-based framework to enhance clinical interviewing skills among trainee psychologists, with a broader focus on competency development in clinical training and skills development. She holds the position of Principal Clinical Psychologist at Grey’s Hospital, a tertiary public hospital in South Africa, where she provides psychological services to both adult and paediatric patients within the burns service, as well as to individuals with complex medical and health-related needs.

Her clinical work is situated in a resource-limited, trauma-saturated context, which informs her commitment to ethical, trauma-informed care that is both compassionate and contextually grounded. In addition to clinical work, Cassidy-Mae is actively involved in postgraduate lecturing and research supervision. She is passionate about contributing to the development of responsive, relevant, and sustainable mental health care within the South African public health system through her clinical and academic work.