ACPA News

Wendy-Jo Toyama, MBA, CAE ACPA is poised to open applications in winter 2020 for the relaunch of the ACPA Visiting Scholar Program for 2021 scholars. The goal of the program is to empower and assist those in positions to effect change to enhance care delivery and direct interdisciplinary team care for comprehensive management of individuals with craniofacial anomalies in their home country.  Further, the program aims to provide the selected scholar with an education ale experience in the treatment of craniofacial and cleft anomalies at ACPA recognized cleft palate and craniofacial centers. Since its inception in 1993, the program has ...
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. / May 21, 2019 – Factors that are specific to the child, surgeon, and/or hospital at the time of primary cleft palate repair may lead to a need for secondary palate surgery, according to the article “Five-Fold Variation Among Surgeons and Hospitals in the Use of Secondary Palate Surgery” from the May 2019 issue of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ). For children born with a cleft palate, palate repair is performed early in life to prevent food from exiting the nose and to enable normal speech development. If the initial procedure is unsuccessful, an oronasal fistula or ...
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Nominations for the 2020 ACPA Board of Directors are now open. The ACPA Nominating Committee strives for a balance of disciplines, gender, geography, institutional, racial, ethnic and other demographics. Please keep this in mind as you review the 2019 ACPA Board of Directors and consider your nominations. Self-nominations will also be accepted from qualified individuals. Board Responsibilities The Board of Directors is empowered to develop, implement, and reevaluate the strategic plan of the Association; formulate organizational policy to foster growth and development of the Association; approve the annual budget and hire, compensate and terminate the Executive Director. The Board of ...
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Chapel Hill, N.C., May 13, 2019 – The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA) is pleased to announce the 2019 winners of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal awards. The winners were recognized on April 13, 2019 during ACPA’s 76th Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona. The 2019 award winners are: Peer Reviewer of the Year Emily Gallagher, MD, MPH Samuel Berkowitz, DDS, MS Long-Term Outcomes Study Award Secondary Alveolar Bone Grafting in Patients Born with Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate: A 20 Year Follow-up, Fatemeh Jabbari, DDS, PhD and co-authors Steward Rood Section Editor of the Year Award Justine Lee, MD, PhD, FACS ...
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Chapel Hill, N.C., May 7, 2019 – The American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA) presented its most prominent awards at ACPA’s 76th Annual Meeting: Emerging Leader, Family Services Leadership, and Honors of the Association. “It is a pleasure to honor and recognize ACPA Award Winners for their service to the cleft and craniofacial field,” said Bernard J. Costello, 2019 ACPA President. “Each winner has exemplified characteristics of who we are as an organization, furthering our collective reach to patients, families and professionals.” ACPA President Bernard J. Costello with 2019 Emerging Leader Award Winner Solomon Obiri-Yeboah, MD, DMD The Emerging Leader Award ...
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Bernard J. Costello, DMD, MD The ACPA Board of Directors met in April to discuss several strategic issues, including a meeting with the Membership Committee for a presentation from McKinley Advisors on the results of the member research. McKinley conducted member research through interviews, focus groups and a survey in 2018. Thank you to those who provided feedback through the process. The research showed that 92% of respondents were satisfied with their ACPA membership, which is well above average. The board identified some opportunities  and will be taking a deeper dive into the results and recommendations, with an eye on ...
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Surgeon’s level of experience reflects economy of hand motion Simulator offers effective environment for cleft palate surgical training CHAPEL HILL, N.C. / April 25, 2019 – A high-fidelity cleft palate simulator can provide an effective training environment for cleft palate surgery while assessing participants’ economy of hand motion and level of expertise, according to the article “Economy of Hand Motion During Cleft Palate Surgery Using a High-Fidelity Cleft Palate Simulator” published in the March 2019 issue of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ). “Cleft-palate surgery is technically demanding, and challenging to teach and learn,” said Ali Ghanem, MD, PhD, FRCS, lead ...
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Wendy-Jo Toyama, MBA, CAE I have been reflecting on the power of connections since returning from ACPA’s Annual Meeting in Tucson.  One of the many highlights for me is meeting new members and first-time attendees. Every year, I am struck by the energy and excitement during the reception we hold for new members and first-time attendees.  This year, approximately 46 mentors connected with 230 mentees.  As I tell everyone I meet during the reception, “You are making connections that will last a lifetime.” A source of ongoing amazement and joy are the unplanned connections or serendipity of life.  Last month ...
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ACPA offers educational webinars to cleft and craniofacial care providers worldwide.   Register for a webinar. Previous webinars are available on-demand and can be watched at any time.  View ACPA’s catalog of courses to view pricing and continuing education information for each session.  Register at least 10 days before the webinar and use code EARLYBIRD to receive the discounted rate. Upcoming webinars include: Rebroadcast – Cleft Palate Speech Therapy: From Elicitation to Spontaneous Speech April 23, 2019 12:00 PM ET ACPA Team Approval Information Session April 25, 2019 12:00 PM ET Cleft Orthognathic Surgery- Surgical Considerations May 1, 2019 6:00 ...
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Abstracts from ACPA’s 76th Annual Meeting are now available in the online edition of The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal (CPCJ). View the abstracts.  For financial conflict of interest disclosure, please visit: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1055665619835915. CPCJ is the official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association (ACPA). Current ACPA Members receive a subscription to the journal as part of membership. Non-members can purchase the abstracts here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1055665619829661. Contact Us with any questions ...
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