Operation Smile founder set to inspire at Aus Day celebrations
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Posted on January 9, 2020
Emerald will host one of Australia’s most respected surgeons later this month as part of the region’s annual Australia Day celebrations.
Associate Professor Richard Lewandowski and his wife Sue founded Operation Smile Australia in 1999 and have since helped thousands of children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities in developing countries.
Dr Lewandowski graduated from the University of Queensland in 1981 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1990.
While studying craniomaxillofacial surgery in the United States, Dr Lewandowski became involved in Operation Smile and volunteered on medical missions to China, Colombia, Gaza, Kenya, the Philippines and Russia.
After his return home, he established the Australian chapter of the organisation to help children from countries in neighbouring South-East Asia.
Dr Lewandowski is also a visiting plastic surgeon at the Mater Children’s, Greenslopes and St Andrew’s hospitals in Brisbane and received a Queensland Greats Award in 2004.
The 2020 Australia Day Ambassador will speak at the Emerald celebrations, which kick off at 7.00 am on Sunday 26 January at the McIndoe Function Centre.
More details of events across the region can be found here.