PROJECTS & TRIPS
Upcoming Trips
Ukraine – July 2025
The Iskra Team will be returning to Ukraine in July 2025 to continue to work with surgeons for the care of children with clefts and craniofacial conditions, traumatic injuries, hand and upper extremity disorders and burns. Dr. Oksana Jackson and 3 additional pediatric specialty surgeons will be returning to Lviv and Mukachevo for 2 weeks.
Dr. David Low is a pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Children’s Hospital Philadelphia who is an expert in cleft lip and palate, ear reconstruction, microsurgery, and vascular anomalies. In addition, he is a renowned medical illustrator who has illustrated two textbooks and multiple journal articles on cleft care.
Dr. Nataliya Biskup is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Wichita, Kansas, who specializes in pediatric and craniofacial surgery including cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, reconstruction of the upper and lower jaws, and nasal reconstructive surgeries. She is director of the Kansas Cleft and Craniofacial Center at Wesley Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Shaun D. Mendenhall is a pediatric hand and upper-extremity plastic surgeon from the University of Utah specializing in reconstruction after congenital differences, injuries, trauma, burns, tumors, spasticity, limb loss, or nerve conditions. In addition, he performs soft tissue and microvascular reconstruction of the upper and lower extremities after major injuries or tumors.
Past Trips - Ukraine
The ISKRA team travels to Ukraine on 2-week mission trips bi-annually. We collaborate with the Zakarpattia Regional Children’s Hospital in Mukachevo, St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital in Lviv, the Regional Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” in Lviv, and National Specialized Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” in Kyiv. Lead by Dr. Jackson, the ISKRA’s team of surgeons work side by side in the operating room with Ukrainian physicians. Each trip has focused on, not only providing immediate surgical care to children, but also on teaching young Ukrainian surgeons and surgical residents.
The February 2024 trip included a cleft lip and palate master course at the Regional Children’s Hospital “Okhmatdyt” in Lviv. The course included 12 presentations by American specialists representing the multidisciplinary care required to treat children with such facial differences.
During the October 2024 trip, the Iskra Team consulted 110 patients and performed 55 surgeries on children between the ages of 3 months and 21 years with facial, burn, and hand disorders. Three plastic surgeons from the United States worked with 21 Ukrainian cleft care specialists who came from cities across Ukraine including Kyiv, Poltava, Vinnytsia, Lviv, Mukachevo and Odessa.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
