Smile Train

{{Short description|Children's charity for cleft defects}} {{About|a charity|a Seibu Railway train with the same nickname|Seibu 30000 series}} {{Infobox organization |name = Smile Train |image = Smile_train_logo14.png |image_size = |caption = |map = |map_caption = |formation = {{Start date and age|1999}} |founder = |type = 501(c)(3) nonprofit |headquarters = New York City, New York, United States |membership = |language = |leader_title = Chief Executive Officer |leader_name = Susannah Schaefer |website = {{url|smiletrain.org}} }}

'''Smile Train''' is a nonprofit organization and charity providing corrective surgery for children with cleft lips and palates.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/community/tempe/articles/20131114ironman-arizona-athletes-raise-funds-smile-train-help-kids.html|title=Ironman Arizona athletes raise funds for Smile Train to help kids|author=Domenico Nicosia|publisher=AZ Central|date=15 November 2013|accessdate=6 May 2014}}</ref> Headquartered in New York City and founded in 1999, Smile Train provides free corrective cleft surgery in 87 countries,<ref name=chinadaily>{{cite news|url=http://www.chinadailyasia.com/life/2013-10/24/content_15094499.html|title=Driven by smiles|author=Liu Zhihua|newspaper=China Daily|date=24 October 2013|accessdate=6 May 2014}}</ref> along with training local doctors and providing hospital funding for the procedures.<ref name=chinadaily/>

==History== Smile Train was created in 1998 by Brian Mullaney and Charles Wang, who had previously worked with Operation Smile.<ref name=hamptonroads>{{cite web|url=http://hamptonroads.com/2013/11/two-sides-charity-competing-compassion|title=Two sides of charity: Competing, compassion|first=Elizabeth|last=Simpson|website=The Virginian-Pilot|date=17 November 2013|accessdate=20 May 2014}}</ref> They felt the most efficient way to provide cleft surgery was to train and support local doctors rather than to fly in Western doctors to provide surgeries in poor, developing countries.<ref name=hamptonroads/><ref name=nytimes>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/magazine/09WWLN-freakonomics-t.html|title=Bottom-Line Philanthropy|first1=Stephen J.|last1=Dubner|first2=Steven D.|last2=Levitt|newspaper=The New York Times|date=9 March 2008|accessdate=20 May 2014}}</ref> Local doctors would also be able to provide care year-round rather than the limited engagements of the "mission-based" model.<ref name=hamptonroads/><ref name=nytimes/>

In 1999, Smile Train approached Court B. Cutting of New York University's Virtual Research Laboratory to create training videos, which could be used to train local doctors on how to perform advanced cleft surgery techniques.<ref name=nytimes2>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/02/health/02clef.html?pagewanted=print&_r=1&&gwh=EFE2B16F1E12C618442EFEB1631982EA&gwt=regi|title=Cleft Palate Practice, Pre-Surgery|author=Amanda Schaffer|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 August 2005|accessdate=20 May 2014}}</ref> The 3D models used in the videos were based on the CT scan of two Chinese patients.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1055/s-2005-925901 |pmc=2884744 |title=The Role of Computer Graphics in Cleft Lip and Palate Education |journal=Seminars in Plastic Surgery |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=286–93 |year=2005 |last1=Oliker |first1=Aaron |last2=Cutting |first2=Court }}</ref> Smile Train distributes the DVDs to local doctors worldwide.<ref name=nytimes/><ref name=nytimes2/> The DVDs are available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.<ref name=virtualsurgery>{{cite journal |doi=10.1109/MCG.2005.26 |pmid=15691163 |title=Virtual surgery brings back smiles |journal=IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=6–11 |year=2005 |last1=Sheppard |first1=L.M }}</ref>

In 1999, Smile Train began providing corrective surgeries in China.<ref name=chinadaily/> The charity worked with the then-US President George H. W. Bush and CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin, in the planning of Smile Train's first operation in China.<ref name=harvardmagazine>{{cite web|url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/09/smile-trains-brian-mullaney?page=all|title=Scaling Up Charity|first=Nell Porter|last=Brown|website=Harvard Magazine|date=September–October 2009|accessdate=20 May 2014}}</ref>{{citation needed|reason=The Harvard Magazine source is being correctly quoted but the source is in error, as George H. W. Bush left office in January 1993. Perhaps it really meant his son George W.Bush, although the article at least seems to be talking about 1997-1998, and the younger Bush only became the President of the United States in 2001. It is unclear how much this error should affect the credibility of the rest of this so-called Reliable Souurce.|date=October 2020}}

Smile Train began working in India in 2000.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.4103/0970-0358.57186 |pmid=19884676 |pmc=2825070 |title=Smile Train: The ascendancy of cleft care in India |journal=Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery |volume=42 |issue=3 |pages=S192–8 |year=2009 |last1=Singh |first1=Subodhkumar |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2011, Aishwarya Rai, became Smile Train's first goodwill ambassador.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.today/20140520225709/http://www.hindustantimes.com/news-feed/entertainment/aishwarya-gets-a-cleft-smile-for-charity/article1-721445.aspx | title=Archive.ph }}</ref> As of 2025, Telugu actress Pavani Gangireddy is the new goodwill ambassador of Smile Train India.<ref>{{cite news |last1=PTI |title=Smile Train India Announces Actress Pavani Gangireddy as New Goodwill Ambassador in Honor of World Cleft Awareness Day |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/business/smile-train-india-announces-actress-pavani-gangireddy-as-new-goodwill-ambassador-in-honor-of-world-cleft-awareness-day-2/ |work=The Tribune |date=July 21, 2025 |language=en}}</ref>

==Early recognition and criticism== In a 2008 ''New York Times'' article, economist Steven Levitt of ''Freakonomics'' fame indicated that the organization's model and its technological innovations "likely make Smile Train one of the most productive charities, dollar for deed, in the world."<ref>{{cite magazine | title = Bottom-Line Philanthropy | magazine = The New York Times Magazine | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/magazine/09WWLN-freakonomics-t.html?ref=magazine | first1=Stephen J. | last1=Dubner | first2=Steven D. | last2=Levitt | date=March 9, 2008}}</ref>

In 2009, the documentary ''Smile Pinki'', which was sponsored by Smile Train and directed by Megan Mylan, won the 2008 Oscar for Best Documentary (Short Subject).<ref>{{cite web | title = Nominees & Winners for the 81st Academy Awards | date = 5 October 2014 | publisher = The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences | url = http://www.oscars.org/awards/81academyawards/nominees.html}}</ref> The film shows the story of a poor girl in rural India whose life is transformed when she receives free surgery to correct her cleft lip.

Smile Train worked with the Scottish charity KidsOR to revamp 30 operating theatres in Africa. This encompassed three in Nigeria, including in Kano, revamping an operating theatre there in the city's Armed Forces Specialist Hospital in 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-01-24 |title=Smile Train, KidsOR donates pediatric facilities to Armed Forces Specialist Hospital Kano |url=https://editor.guardian.ng/news/nigeria/metro/smile-train-kidsor-donates-pediatric-facilities-to-armed-forces-specialist-hospital-kano/ |location=Lagos, Nigeria|access-date=2022-10-24 |newspaper=The Guardian|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2008, CharityWatch criticized then-president Brian Mullaney's $420,209 salary and questioned the 2007 company's tax form, which said Mullaney's salary came from temporary restricted funds designed to go toward overhead.<ref>http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/smiletrain.html{{full citation needed|date=June 2018}}</ref> In 2009, Givewell could not assess the impact of Smile Train's activities based on the charity's 2008 tax form and other publicly accessible information.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.givewell.org/international/charities/Smile-Train|title=Smile Train|publisher=GiveWell|accessdate=21 May 2014}}</ref> Mullaney departed the charity in 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |date=2011-02-24 |title=Opposition Arises to Charities' Merger |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/business/24smile.html |access-date=2022-11-08 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==Further reading== *{{cite web |title=Smile Train Stories - The Shorty Awards |url=https://shortyawards.com/17th/smile-train-stories |website=shortyawards.com}}

==External links== * [https://www.smiletrain.org Official website]

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

Category:Charities based in New York City Category:Children's charities based in the United States Category:Health charities in the United States Category:Non-profit organizations based in New York City Category:Oral and maxillofacial surgery organizations Category:Organizations established in 1999 Category:Medical and health organizations based in New York (state) Category:1999 establishments in New York (state)