April 8, 2025 – The American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Association (ACPA) announces an update to the 2025 ACPA-Smile Train Visiting Scholar program.  The Visiting Scholar Selection Panel is pleased to introduce Dr. Cecile Cabrera as the new 2025 ACPA-Smile Train Visiting Scholar.

Dr. Cabrera is a volunteer orthodontist and the head of the orthodontic program at the Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation Philippines (NCFP). She also serves as a faculty member in the Graduate Program in Orthodontics at the College of Dentistry, University of the Philippines Manila. Dr. Cabrera and her team at NCFP have been providing comprehensive cleft and craniofacial care for more than 15 years. Their mission is to enhance the quality of care available and make treatment more accessible in the Philippines.

As part of her Visiting Scholar experience, Dr. Cabrera will observe and learn from two ACPA Approved Teams in the United States—the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Cleft and Craniofacial Program in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Children’s Hospital of Colorado Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Program in Aurora, Colorado. Dr. Cabrera will join the 2025 ACPA Visiting Scholar, Dr. Nguyen Lan, in sharing insights from their experiences at ACPA’s Annual Meeting in Palm Springs next month.

ACPA and Smile Train congratulate Dr. Cabrera on this opportunity and looks forward to her contributions to advancing cleft and craniofacial care globally.

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The ACPA Visiting Scholar Program (VSP) selects cleft and/or craniofacial care providers from developing countries to travel to the United States and Canada to learn more about cleft and craniofacial care from ACPA Approved Teams. The purpose of the program is to give scholars a first-hand opportunity to see interdisciplinary team-based cleft/craniofacial care and provide them with the knowledge to establish or improve cleft and/or craniofacial care within their home country in a team setting. Learn more about the Visiting Scholar Program.