Rela Hospital and Smile Train Launch India’s Largest and Most Comprehensive Cleft Care Reference Centre
The move will strengthen the centre’s efforts to advance access to high-quality, multidisciplinary cleft care and build clinical capacity through training, research and knowledge sharing.
The centre brings together expertise across the entire spectrum of cleft care, including plastic, maxillofacial and ENT surgery, paediatrics and paediatric anaesthesiology, orthodontics, speech and hearing, nutrition, oral health, and clinical psychology.
Chennai, September 2026: Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft-focused organization, today announced the Cleft and Craniofacial Centre, Sree Balaji Medical College Hospital & Dr Rela Medical Centre, Chennai as the Comprehensive Cleft Care Reference Centre (CCRC) strengthening its efforts to advance access to high-quality, multidisciplinary cleft care while building clinical capacity through training, research and knowledge sharing. A commemorative plaque was unveiled by Susannah Schaefer, President & CEO Smile Train and Dr Sreenisha, Chairperson, Sree Balaji Medical College.
The move will strengthen the centre’s efforts to advance access to high-quality, multidisciplinary cleft care and build clinical capacity through training, research and knowledge sharing. By combining comprehensive patient care with capacity building, the centre aims to strengthen cleft care beyond the institution itself.
A plaque commemorating the CCRC was unveiled by Susannah Schaefer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Smile Train, in the presence of Mamta Carroll, Senior Vice President and Regional Director, Asia, Smile Train, Dr J Srinisha, Chairperson, Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Prof. Mohamed Rela, Chairman, Rela Hospital, and Dr. Syed Altaf Hussain, Director, The Cleft and Craniofacial Centre.
It builds on one of the earliest multidisciplinary cleft care programmes established in association with Smile Train in 2001. The centre has been functioning in the new state-of-the-art facility at Sree Balaji Medical College Hospital and Dr Rela Hospital since 2022, with a highly experienced multidisciplinary team that provides care for children with clefts from birth to the completion of growth and beyond.
The programme brings together expertise across the entire spectrum of cleft care, including plastic, maxillofacial and ENT surgery, paediatrics and paediatric anaesthesiology, orthodontics, speech and hearing, nutrition, oral health, and clinical psychology. These include top-of-the-line primary surgical procedures and protocols to optimise outcomes, including primary lip and palate repair and alveolar
