Thursday, February 10, 2022
The nonprofit organization, Smile Train, awarded Iowa professor Azeez Butali a $40,000 grant to study the genetic causes of cleft lip and palate among the Zulu population in South Africa. Butali is an internationally recognized expert in the genetics of cleft lip and palate, particularly among African populations. Butali is working with Thriona Naicker, a trained Medical Geneticist and PhD student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Butali serves as Naicker’s mentor for his dissertation research.