Stephanie van Eeden

I have worked with the Newcastle cleft lip and palate team for 17 years and have led the speech and language service since 2009. I am currently undertaking a PhD investigating language and listening skills in children with cleft lip and palate. I am Chair of the Early Career Researchers Group in Cleft and Craniofacial Anomalies. My research interests also include Robin Sequence, outcome measures and the relationship between speech and language skills. I have spent some time in India working with cleft charities and delivering assessment and therapy through interpreters and local SLTs.

When away from work I enjoy walking my dogs, running (slowly!) and watching football!

Latest

Rona, Richard, Jon and Simon ride 100 miles

Join us in raising funds for the CLEFT: Bridging the Gap! CLEFT has 2 great aims: to support sustainable and multidisciplinary cleft care in lower and middle income countries (surgery is important but only part of the journey), and to support research into the causes and provision of cleft care in the UK.
Zhi's Dublin Marathon Fundraiser

I am raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
Nick and Kathleen's Wedding Fundraiser

We are raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
The difference a Comprehensive Cleft and Craniofacial Centre can make

During his visit to Dhaka earlier this year, Mr Brian Sommerlad (Chair of CLEFT and Consultant Plastic Surgeon) saw a number of familiar faces in the clinic. Shahriah and Khadjiatul are two patients requiring a large number of operations and complex treatments throughout their lifetime.

Hannah Lane

I am a Specialist Speech and Language Therapist working with children born with cleft and craniofacial conditions in Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, linking with the Nottingham Trent Cleft team.
Jenny Cropper

I am a Clinical Psychologist working in the Spires Cleft Centre, across the Oxford and Salisbury sites.
Julie Davies

Senior Specialist Speech & Language Therapist, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Gillian McCarthy

I represent CLAPA, the Cleft Lip and Palate Association.
Fiona Gilchrist

Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry
Yvonne Wren

I am Associate Professor of Speech and Communication at the University of Bristol and also Chief Investigator of the Cleft Collective, a national cohort study which is investigating the causes, treatments and outcomes for people born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Helen Robson

Clinical Nurse Specialist
Sophie Butterworth, Junior Cleft Fellow

I qualified as a doctor in 2007 and have been working part-time with the cleft lip and palate team in Newcastle since 2009, with a few breaks for my three children.
Ambika Chadha

I am a doubly qualified specialist in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery who has had a lifelong interest in all aspects of cleft.
Rona Slator, Chair of the Research Steering Committee

Retired, and living in the North Yorkshire countryside. Former Consultant Plastic and Cleft Surgeon at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the West Midlands Cleft Lip and Palate Centre.

Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery

We are working with Bangladeshi specialists at the new Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery to create a sustainable centre to treat children with cleft lip and palate.
Nawrin and the C-Arm

This important piece of equipment was supplied by CLEFT and is used to see moving images of the cleft palate. Nawrin is a 13 year old girl who was experiencing speech difficulties and needed the C-Arm to show the cleft team if further surgery was required.
Our mission

CLEFT was established in 2007 with one aim, to help improve the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate, either by funding research into the likely causes of the condition or by helping support teams in lower and middle income countries.
Donate

You can make a one-off donation today or sign up to giving a regular monthly gift. All donations, small or large, will help us to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate both now and in the future. 100% of your donation today will go towards funding an international or research project thanks to a charitable trust covering all our administrative costs until February 2025.
About us

CLEFT was established in 2007 by cleft surgeon Brian Sommerlad - based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, together with a former patient and a patient's grandmother.
The genetics of cleft lip and palate

Investigations into the genetics of cleft lip and palate to understand more about why cleft lip and palate occurs.
Brian Sommerlad, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Chair of Trustees

For over 40 years, I have been involved in operating on babies, children and adults who have been born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Our research vision

At CLEFT, our vision is of a future where clefts are preventable. Until we get there, we want to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate.
Trusts and Foundations

Today, 1-in-700 babies in the UK are born with a cleft lip and palate, the most common form of birth defect. The impact on a child’s life as they grow is profound. Typically, they will need at least four operations. They may also require ongoing tests, treatment or therapy. It will affect the way they look but also their speech, hearing and dental development. It can leave deep psychological scars.
MRI Speech Assessment

This important research looked at using MRI to assess whether further surgery could improve speech for people with repaired clefts.