University of Iowa nonprofit startup Clubfoot Solutions has teamed up with NASCAR driver Joey Gase to raise awareness of clubfoot, a congenital condition that 200,000 children are born with each year.

On Oct. 15 at the Kansas Speedway, Gase’s #52 race car will carry the names and pictures of children affected by clubfoot and in support of Clubfoot Solutions, a nonprofit 501c3 medical device company and graduate of the UI Ventures program.

"I am very happy to be teaming up with Clubfoot Solutions for the second time this fall at Kansas Speedway,” said Gase. “We will be able honor those affected by the clubfoot birth defect and most importantly be raising awareness for clubfoot and how people can help the children born with clubfoot in developing nations.”

The late UI professor of orthopaedics Ingacio Ponseti, M.D., developed a non-surgical method of treating clubfoot in the 1950s. The Ponseti Treatment Method is the “gold standard” in the treatment of clubfoot and boasts a 97 percent success rate. However, the corrective braces required for the treatment are too expensive for 80 percent of children who suffer from clubfoot.

A trio of UI professors drew from their experience in international public health, biomedical engineering and orthopedic surgery to develop an affordable, corrective device called The Iowa Brace. In 2013, they founded Clubfoot Solutions to develop an affordable brace and put it on the feet of those who need it most.

“Clubfoot is easily corrected with the noninvasive Ponseti Treatment Method, which eliminates costly and painful surgeries by using a series of gentle manipulations of the foot, plaster castings and bracing,” said Todd Becker, managing director of Clubfoot Solutions. “Clubfoot Solutions is responsible for manufacturing and delivering The Iowa Brace which is changing lives worldwide. 

“We are so fortunate to team up with Iowan Joey Gase and his NASCAR #52 Jimmy Means Race team for the Kansas Speedway Race on October 15th to promote clubfoot awareness,” Becker added.

UI Ventures, part of the Office of Research and Economic Development, assists entrepreneurial faculty, postdocs and graduate students in creating startups based on their research. UI Ventures facilitates access to mentors, capital, management and other critical resources startups need to grow. More information is available at http://uiventures.uiowa.edu/

The Office of Research and Economic Development provides resources and support to researchers and scholars at the University of Iowa and to businesses across Iowa with the goal of forging new frontiers of discovery and innovation and promoting a culture of creativity that benefits the campus, the state, and the world. More at http://research.uiowa.edu, and on Twitter: @DaretoDiscover. 

Photos (from top): NASCAR driver Joey Gase; a young child from Kyrgyzstan wearing the Iowa Brace.