Global Cleft Care in Low-Resource Settings

Dr. Swanson is Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and a pediatric plastic and craniofacial surgeon at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. A graduate of Harvard College and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, he trained as a plastic surgeon at the University of Washington and completed his cleft and craniofacial surgery fellowship at Penn. He also holds an MSc in International Development Management from the London School of Economics, and was the Tsao Fellow in Global Surgery. He previously lived and worked in Nicaragua, collaborating with Operation Smile and the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health to build a joint Comprehensive Cleft and Craniofacial program and to expand rural access to surgical care through the Surgery for the People program. He partners with cleft teams in several countries to develop adaptive solutions for improving access to care, training, and quality of outcomes. Dr. Low is Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania and an attending physician at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he has more than 30 years' experience in treating patients with cleft lip and palate. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, he completed all of his surgical training at Penn under the guidance of plastic surgery giants Don LaRossa, Linton Whitaker, and Peter Randall. He serves as the medical director for his CHOP-based team, Smiles for Guatemala, which provides multidisciplinary cleft care biannually to the indigent population of Guatemala. A certified medical illustrator, Dr. Low has contributed to many publications through his artwork. His personal experience in cleft care has provided a unique advantage in the creation of the many illustrations in this book.