Dr. Larry Hollier, Jr. appointed medical advisory board chair of Smile Train

October 14, 2014

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Dr. Larry Hollier, Jr., chief of Plastic Surgery at Texas Children’s, was recently appointed chairman of Smile Train’s medical advisory board. Smile Train is the largest cleft charity in the world with a mission of identifying teams of physicians and healthcare providers worldwide who are capable of performing surgery on children with cleft lip and palate problems.

In his role as chairman of the organization’s medical advisory board, Dr. Hollier supervises a group of physicians and healthcare providers from countries around the world to ensure Smile Train provides the safest care for these children.

Dr. Hollier has been on numerous trips sponsored by Smile Train to Haiti, both before and after the earthquake in 2010. With the help of other local organizations, he also has traveled to Southeast Asia, Central America and Africa to care for children with cleft deformities and serious burn injuries. Texas Children’s plastic surgeons Dr. Laura Monson traveled to Egypt and Dr. Edward Buchanan traveled to Tanzania to treat these children as well.

Cleft deformities and serious burn injuries often are left untreated in less developed countries, leading to a lifetime of disfigurement. Smile Train tries to help resolve some of these issues and is involved in 87 countries with 2,100 partner surgeons in more than 1,100 hospitals. The organization’s team of physicians and healthcare providers have treated more than 1 million patients since Smile Train was created a decade ago. This year they already have cared for more than 120,000 children.