To become a model cleft center of excellence in cleft care that all cleft centers in Pakistan will strive for, Cleft Hospital Gujrat founded its research department in Dec, 2015. The main aim of this department is to improve cleft care for patients by doing research into causes, prevention and treatment of cleft lip and palate.
A number of observational and case-control studies are being done by the department since its inception. Some of these have been published in known journals. A number of studies are currently in the process of data analysis. However, a lot of research still needs to be done in the area of cleft in Pakistan as demographic studies done in the past are outdated and little or no genetic level research on finding the causative agents of cleft is being done.