Smile Train Appoints Dr. Faye Evans and Dr. Richard Hopper to Medical Advisory Board

NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Smile Train, the world's largest cleft organization, today announced the appointment of two new members, Dr. Faye Evans and Dr. Richard Hopper, to its Medical Advisory Board. Dr. Evans and Dr. Hopper bring a combined 35+ years of medical expertise to Smile Train.  

Dr. Evans is an anesthesiologist at Boston Children's Hospital and an Instructor in Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School.  She is an expert in global health and anesthesia ? focused on improving the safety and quality of anesthesia and surgery globally through education and advocacy. Dr. Evans regularly lectures across the United States and the developing world.

"It is a privilege to join Smile Train's team and support their vision of providing safe surgery to children throughout the world," said Dr. Evans. "To date, Smile Train has supported more than one million cleft surgeries for children born with this debilitating condition. It is my hope to help to increase that number and touch additional children through my work and contributions."

Dr. Hopper is the Division Chief for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery, Surgical Director of the Craniofacial Center at Seattle Children's Hospital and a Professor in Surgery at the University of Washington.  He is a past-President of the American Society of Craniofacial Surgery, Council member of the International Society of Craniofacial Surgery, and co-founder of Partners in African Training, a training program to improve and expand access to team-based cleft care in sub-Saharan Africa.

"It is an honor to be a part of the work Smile Train is accomplishing throughout the developing world," said Dr. Hopper. "By providing children with cleft lip and palate surgery in a sustainable way through training that empowers local doctors, the organization will continue to positively impact and shape the future of the industry."

"Both Dr. Evans and Dr. Hopper bring a wealth of valuable knowledge and experience to Smile Train's team," said Charles Wang, Chairman and Founder of Smile Train. "I am confident that their background will continue to advance Smile Train as a leading cleft lip and palate care provider for children throughout the world."

The Medical Advisory Board is chaired by Chief of Plastic Surgery Service at Texas Children's Hospital, Dr. Larry Hollier. The board is composed of cleft experts from plastic surgeons to anesthesiologists to orthodontists to geneticists, and sets the standards for safety and quality for every Smile Train partner and program.

Smile Train's sustainable model provides training, funding and resources to empower local doctors in over 85 countries in the developing world to provide 100 percent-free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Since its founding in 1999, Smile Train has provided more than one million cleft repair surgeries.

For more information on Smile Train's Medical Advisory Board, please visit https://www.smiletrain.org/about/team. To learn more about Smile Train's global efforts and to make a donation, please visit smiletrain.org. Follow Smile Train on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrain and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/SmileTrain.

About Smile Train 
Smile Train is an international children's charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions of children in developing countries with untreated clefts live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is immediate. Our sustainable model provides training, funding and resources to empower local doctors in 85+ developing countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive cleft care in their own communities. To learn more about how Smile Train's sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.

SOURCE Smile Train