When Dr. Andrew Jacono was still a medical student, he watched reconstructive surgery transform the life of a young girl whose cleft lip and palate had left her isolated from her classmates. After the surgery changed her appearance, her social world changed along with it. That moment planted the seed for a humanitarian commitment that has now stretched across decades, countries, and thousands of patients who could not have afforded private surgical care.
Children Across the World
Dr. Andrew Jacono leads surgical missions to developing countries approximately twice a year. His partners in this work include Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children, and his missions have taken him to Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond. The children he operates on often carry conditions including cleft lip and palate, microtia, facial tumors, and burn scars. In the communities where these children live, such visible differences frequently lead to exclusion from school and from the broader fabric of community life.
Through these trips, Dr. Andrew Jacono has provided surgical care to more than 750 children. The procedures address both the physical conditions causing functional difficulties, such as problems with eating and breathing, and the social stigma that accompanies visible facial deformities in many communities. For families who could not otherwise access specialized reconstructive care, these missions represent the only available path to treatment.
Service Closer to Home
Back in the United States, Dr. Jacono has served as national chairman of the FACE TO FACE Committee for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, a program providing pro bono reconstructive surgery to survivors of domestic violence. His work with these women, many of whom carry injuries including nasal fractures, orbital damage, and facial scarring, was chronicled in the television series Facing Trauma, which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network and Discovery Fit and Health in 2011.
Dr. Andrew Jacono also holds academic posts at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and North Shore University Hospital, where he teaches the ethical responsibility that comes with surgical expertise. Through his role as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, he works to ensure that future surgeons carry forward that same obligation to serve beyond what private practice alone provides. Read this article for additional information.
Follow for more about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://www.facebook.com/DrJacono/