Let the Healing Begin

Our Mission

To provide free surgical and dental services to poor and underprivileged children and young adults in various countries throughout the underdeveloped world, as well as facilitate the transfer of education, knowledge and recent innovations to the local medical communities.

Medical Missions for Children, Inc. (MMFC) is a Massachusetts based non-profit organization that dispatches teams of volunteer surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists, nurses, and speech pathologists to the most remote and underprivileged communities in the developing world. The focus of MMFC’s missions is the surgical care of cleft lip and palate deformities, severe burn injuries, microtia (absence of the outer ear), head/neck tumors, and dental disease. 

Since 1991, MMFC has launched 450 missions worldwide, providing free surgical care to over 40,000 children and young adults. Our surgical teams have also provided dental care, speech pathology, nutrition counseling, and educational services to an additional 70,000 patients. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, MMFC teams successfully completed 20+ surgical and dental missions per year, including sites in Rwanda, Cambodia, India, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, El Salvador, China, Ukraine, Tanzania, the Philippines, and Madagascar. Each mission lasts between 8 and 17 days, at an average cost of $50,000 per mission.

Despite the immense challenges of carrying out our volunteer work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, MMFC continues to impact the care of destitute children and families in Africa, Asia, and Central America:

  • In the Philippines, Guatemala, and Tanzania, MMFC donated vitally needed medical supplies, including nutritional supplements, antibiotics, COVID testing kits, surgical instruments, infant formula, and wound care essentials. Our partner hospitals in these countries each serve a population of between several million indigent citizens.
  • In Armenia, MMFC set up a telemedicine conduit between major medical centers in the capital of Yerevan, and trauma/burn care specialists in Boston and New York City. As well, MMFC donated medical equipment essential for the care of children suffering from life-threatening burn injuries. 

Members of the Board

Gil Arie, JD, LL.B, LL.M
Partner
Foley Hoag LLP

Wallace Bellamy, DMD
Vice Chair, California Dental Association
Fellow, American College of Dentists
Founder, Fountain Plaza Family Dental

Charles Badaoui, DMD. RPh
MMFC Treasurer,
Founder, Copley Dental Associates,
Assistant Clinical Professor,
Tufts University Dental School

Rafael Barrera, MD
NSLIJ Medical Director,
SICU Northwell Health

Shelagh Cofer, MD
Division Chair, Pediatric Otolaryngology –
Head and Neck Surgery,
Mayo Clinic

Shadi Daher, DMD, FICD, FAAOMS
MMFC President, Clinical Assistant Professor,
Boston University School of Dental Medicine,
Boston Medical Center

Jagdish Dhingra, MD
Director & Partner, ENT Specialists, Inc.
Professor, Tufts School of Medicine

Marc B. Ehrenpreis, MD
Director of Pediatric Anesthesiology,
New York – Presbyterian/Queens
Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology,
Department of Anesthesiology,
Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Claudia Gilam, J.D.
Founder, Novara Global Consulting
Previous General Council, Boston Scientific

Drew Patterson, MD, PhD
Lawson Professor and
Executive Vice Chair of Anesthesiology
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Dennis Snyder, MD, FACS
MMFC Chairman
ENT Specialists, Inc
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary
Tufts Medical Center / Otolaryngology

Ben Talei, MD
Director, Beverly Hills Center for Plastic Surgery
Advisory Chair, LA County Medical Association

Pacifico M. Tuason, MD
Instructor in Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School,
Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine,
Massachusetts General Hospital

Robert F. Ward, MD
Professor of Otolaryngology,
New York University Medical College

Staff

MMFC is managed by their Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is a body of elected appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of the organization.

Executive Staff

Frank ODonnell, JD MPA
Executive Director
fodonnell@mmfc.org

Kiki Polemenakos
Mission Coordinator
missions@mmfc.org

Materials Management

Hermes Castillo
Materials Mgmt
materials@mmfc.org

 

Professional Services

Nada J. Rizkallah, C.P.A.
NJR Services
n.rizkallah@hotmail.com

Roberta Anslow
Cape Cod Office
Graphic and Web Design
Charity Golf Tournament Director
Philippine Mission
roberta.anslow@gmail.com
robertaanslow.com