Reconstructing Lives, One Smile at a Time

Plastic surgeon Frank Agullo, M.D., recently traveled to Cusco, Peru, on a medical mission to provide medical care to children with facial abnormalities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Cleft lip and palate are birth defects that affect the upper lip and the roof of the mouth, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. A cleft lip and palate can: affect the appearance of the face, lead to problems with feeding and speech and sometimes can lead to ear infections.

Agullo, a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Plastic Surgery at the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Department of Surgery, was able to make the trip in conjunction with Smile Network International, which was founded to reconstruct lives through one bright, smiling face at a time.

Agullo worked closely with Uldis Bite, M.D., a plastic surgeon at the Mayo Clinic to perform 66 surgeries during the visit.

He is a graduate of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine surgery residency program. He went on to train at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., before returning to El Paso to practice plastic surgery.