Fundación Gantz: Raising the Bar for Cleft Care in Latin America

“Being recognised by Smile Train means Chile is now a regional leader training and educating doctors from all over the world."

Smile Train Cleft Leadership Centers (CLCs) represent one of our largest investments yet in building local medical capacity. Equipped with the latest technology and staffed with some of the area’s best-trained medical professionals, CLCs serve as regional hubs for cleft treatment, education, training, and research, presenting a holistic, team-centred model of care that encompasses surgery, speech therapy, nutritional support, orthodontics, and more.

From the moment we began partnering with Fundación Gantz in 2000, we have been inspired by their unyielding commitment to providing excellent, holistic, and truly local cleft care — including taking the lead in training other cleft professionals from across Latin America. When we began designating CLCs in July 2021, they were an obvious choice to join the inaugural class.

In their new role as a CLC, Smile Train will support Fundación Gantz’s efforts to expand their historic influence through ever-growing cleft care programmes and research, education, and training opportunities. We are excited to take our work together to the next level – bringing us that much closer to the day when every child with a cleft will receive all the care they need.

As Dr Carlos Giugliano, Gantz’s medical director, noted at the ceremony officially launching the foundation as a CLC, “Being recognised by Smile Train means Chile is now a regional leader training and educating doctors from all over the world."