Ana Larralde Pineda

Dr. Ana Larralde Pineda is the first female specialist in maxillofacial surgery in Cuba

She was born in Mayajigua, Sancti Spiritus province, in the bosom of a well-to-do family of peasant social extraction. Daughter of Ana María Marcela Pineda, Cuban, and Ernesto Modesto Larralde Sainsori, of Basque origin; small farmers, owners of a farm of 3 caballerías of land, which in 1965 they delivered to the National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA).

In 1941, she began her first studies at the Public School of Mayajigua and completed them at the Primary School, annexed to the Normal School of Santa Clara, where she graduated in the 6th grade. She continued her studies in Public Secondary School until 1950.

In 1951, she began studying at the Institute of Secondary Education of Santa Clara; she graduated in 1955, while simultaneously studying from the 1st to 3rd years at the Normal School for Teachers in the same city. She completed the 4th year at the Night School for Teachers in Havana, where she graduated.

In 1956, she began her university studies at the School of Stomatology of the University of Havana. During the period of the University's closure due to revolutionary events and the intensification of the struggle against Batista, she worked as a Primary School teacher at the Santana School in Cotorro. When the University resumed its teaching activities, she rejoined it and graduated in 1961 as a Doctor of Dental Surgery.

That year, upon completing her higher studies, she married Dr. Ixo Porfirio Gallo Cortés, a physician with a distinguished career, who years later became a Full Professor and Consultant in Gynecology and Obstetrics at the University of Medical Sciences of Havana (UCMH).

Shortly after concluding her career, she began working as a stomatologist at the Patricio Sierra Alta Hospital in Maisí, former province of Oriente, where she worked from 1962 to 1963 in the rural social service of the postgraduate program. Subsequently, she moved to the Stomatological Clinic of Miramar, where she remained working until 1964. She began the Residency in Maxillofacial Surgery in that year at the Freyre de Andrade Hospital (former Emergency Hospital) and graduated as a Specialist of the First Degree in Maxillofacial Surgery in 1966, thus becoming the first female specialist in Maxillofacial Surgery in Cuba.

Immediately afterward, she began working as a maxillofacial surgeon at the Provincial Hospital of Santiago de Cuba until 1970, while also performing teaching and clinical work for the care of this specialty for the population of that province. In addition to this work, she began her teaching activities upon obtaining the rank of Instructor at the Faculty of Stomatology of the University of Oriente.

From 1970 to 1977, she was a professor of undergraduate and graduate studies at the "General Calixto García" Hospital in the province of Havana.

From 1977 until her death, she served as a professor at the Faculty of Stomatology of the UCMH, and progressed through the different teaching categories until obtaining the Principal Category of Assistant Professor and the Special Category of Consultant Professor. She achieved the title of Specialist of the Second Degree in Maxillofacial Surgery on July 27, 1987.

She fulfilled an internationalist mission as a professor at the University of Development Studies in Tamale, Northern Region, Republic of Ghana, from October 1999 to July 2000. The authorities of the university and the hospital where she provided her collaboration gave excellent references regarding her professional capacity and her willingness to teach and fulfill the commitments undertaken.

From October 2005 to July 2006, she served as professor of the subject Oral Surgery, taught to students of the 4th and 5th years of the Faculty of Stomatology at Sana'a University in Yemen and obtained excellent work results.

Until the end of her days, Dr. Ana Larralde served as Head of the Maxillofacial Surgery Services at the "Julio Trigo López" Clinical-Surgical Teaching Hospital, member of the Board of Directors and President of the Medical Audit Board of that same hospital, responsibilities that she combined with her work as Assistant Professor and Consultant in her specialty.

The professor was a founder of the Cuban Society of Maxillofacial Surgery; she achieved the status of Full Member of this society and was a Member of the Board of Governors during two periods: from 1975 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1983.

This professor, possessed of great scientific knowledge, developed a long and intense intellectual work throughout her professional life. She taught 30 Postgraduate Courses; participated in more than 50 Scientific Events, national and international, in which she presented works that, for their quality and contributions to knowledge, were awarded on multiple occasions.

She was mentor of 15 completion works of Maxillofacial Surgery Residencies and served on 34 Boards of State Examinations in this specialty.

She is the author of 15 scientific articles that were published in various specialized journals, including the Cuban Journal of Stomatology. Among the published articles can be mentioned: "Temporomandibular Ankylosis. Case Presentation", "Disharmony of the Jaws. Single-Stage Surgical Treatment", "Evaluation of a Surgical Technique for the Extraction of Third Molar Germs" and "Reconstruction of Sequelae of Surgical Interventions in Oncological Lesions". She is also the author of a chapter of the book Oral Pathology. Clinical-Surgical Conditions of the Salivary Glands.

The doctor also conducted several scientific investigations throughout her professional life, among which are "Scintigraphy as a Diagnostic Means in Salivary Gland Lesions", "Orbital Floor Fracture. Current Approach" and "Reduction of Dental-Alveolar Prognathism with Immediate Rehabilitation".

It is important to note that Dr. Larralde had repeated participation in Congresses related to her profession, among which stand out:

• VI, VII, VIII, IX National Congress of Stomatology (1963, 1966, 1976, 1980).
• X, IX, National Medical Congress (1963, 1966).
• IV, VI Congress of Maxillofacial Surgery (1977, 1985).
• XI National Congress of Orthodontics (1984).
• II Congress of Stomatological Prosthetics (1985).
• VII Congress of the Cuban Society of Maxillofacial Surgery (1989).
• I Latin American Congress of Maxillofacial Surgery (1993).

Distinctions and recognitions, among which stand out:
• The Manuel Piti Fajardo Distinction Medal.
• Order Frank País of the Second Degree.
• The Distinction Medal for Cuban Education.
• Literacy Medal.
• Diploma of Recognition XX Anniversary of Services to the MININT.
• Founder Seal of University Militias.
• Commemorative Plaque for the Centenary of the School of Stomatology.