Dr. Dinara Toguzbayeva, Associate Professor at the Medical University of Almaty, Kazakhstan. She is a leading voice specialist, the founder of the first Voice Laboratory in Kazakhstan, and the country's first member of the European Union of Phoniatrics, having joined over 13 years ago. Her clinical and academic work focuses on phonosurgery and the in-depth study of voice disorders

Elif Ayanoğlu Aksoy, MD, FEBORL-HNS, is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery based in Istanbul, Türkiye, with more than 20 years of clinical and academic experience. She is an internationally trained ENT specialist with recognised expertise in laryngology, voice disorders, and swallowing disorders in both adult and paediatric populations.

Dr Aksoy graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Medicine and completed her specialist training in Otorhinolaryngology at Marmara University. She has been practicing as an ENT specialist since 2003 and has held senior academic positions up to full professorship at Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydınlar University, where she continues to contribute to undergraduate medical education. Her clinical practice spans tertiary-care hospital environments and specialised outpatient clinics, with a strong emphasis on multidisciplinary and evidence-based patient care.

She received advanced training in Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and FEES with Sensory Testing (FEESST) at Columbia University, New York, under the mentorship of Prof. Jonathan E. Aviv and Prof. Thomas Murry. She has further enhanced her expertise through international academic visits and observerships with leading figures in contemporary laryngology and dysphagia, including Prof. Peter C. Belafsky and Mr Yakubu Karagama.

Dr Aksoy is widely recognised as one of the early adopters and key educators of FEES-based swallowing assessment in Türkiye. She is a frequent invited speaker and faculty member at national and international congresses, courses, and workshops, and has contributed to the field through peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She is an active member of several international professional societies, including the European Laryngological Society and the European Society for Swallowing Disorders, and holds full registration with the UK General Medical Council.

At IFOS 2026, Dr Aksoy participates as a speaker in the session on Salivary Control Disorders, contributing a clinically grounded and evidence-based perspective to the scientific programme.

Assoc. Prof. Ercan Akbay, MD, born in Şereflikoçhisar in 1978, is an Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) specialist who also pursues studies in philosophy and the fine arts. He received his medical degree from Ege University Faculty of Medicine (1995–2001) and completed his residency in Otorhinolaryngology at Selçuk University Meram Faculty of Medicine in 2005. Following ten years of clinical and scientific work in his field, he achieved the academic rank of Associate Professor in Otorhinolaryngology in 2014. In addition to his medical career, he completed a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy at Istanbul University (AUZEF) between 2021 and 2024. He then earned a Master of Arts degree from Kırıkkale University Graduate School of Social Sciences, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. Since 2024, he has been pursuing undergraduate studies in the Department of Painting at Kırıkkale University Faculty of Fine Arts.