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World Clubfoot Day: "Gold Standard" Treatment for Clubfoot Developed in Iowa

Brachet Youri

Nearly 200-thousand babies each year are born with clubfoot, which is a congenital condition that causes a baby’s foot to be deformed in a way that the foot is twisted and the sole cannot be placed flat on the ground.

This Saturday marks World Clubfoot Day.  It commemorates the birthday of Dr. Ignacio Ponseti, whose treatment method is known as the "gold standard" treatment for clubfoot.

The Ponseti Method is nearly 100 percent effective, and it was developed at the University of Iowa.

On this River to River segment, Ben Kieffer talks with Dr. Jose Morcuende, Chief Medical Director of the Ponseti International Association.  Morcuende first came to the University of Iowa in 1990 as an associate professor, and he worked with Ponseti and learn his treatment method.

Part of the segment also features an interview with Bill Kurth, who is a research scientist in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa. He describes NASA’s Cassini mission that is currently monitoring Saturn and its rings and is in its final phases of a 20 year voyage.

This Sunday, Cassini collected spectacular views of Saturn’s rings with an on-board camera. The images collected by Cassini show new close-up angles of the structure of Saturn’s rings.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River