About the Department of Plastic Surgery | NYU Langone Health

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About the Department of Plastic Surgery

Our department is a global leader in plastic surgery patient care, physician training, and research.

At NYU Langone Health’s Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery, our mission is to lead the field of plastic surgery by offering a high standard of patient care, as well as exceptional educational programs and clinical and basic science research programs.

Our department provides compassionate, unbiased, state-of-the-art clinical services to all of our patients. We offer multidisciplinary evaluations and treatment of complex clinical problems, and our professional staff have a wide range of subspecialty expertise and a commitment to leadership and excellence.

We are proud to offer high-caliber professional training programs and symposia for plastic surgery residents, fellows, medical students, rotating residents, practicing plastic surgeons, and other professionals. We also offer a comprehensive dental residency program through NYU Langone Dental.

We conduct a variety of plastic surgery research studies at both the basic science and clinical levels to advance knowledge in the field. Our clinical trials are designed to enhance patient care and optimize outcomes. We remain in close communication with other healthcare providers and private and government regulatory agencies to keep abreast of societal needs and viewpoints that inform patient care, education, and research.

Our Locations

Our main office is located at 222 East 41 Street in Manhattan. This space accommodates all outpatient surgery services.

The 22nd floor is home to our pediatric services and features a patient waiting area adjoining the Jorge Posada Playroom. We also have full-service examination rooms; an orthodontic dental unit; a digital X-ray suite; the Newman Family Psychosocial Support Team office and resource center; a conference room in which our multidisciplinary teams meet each week to discuss patient care; and a digital imaging center providing photography and media services for the plastic surgery community at NYU Langone and beyond.

The seventh floor houses our adult group practice and includes patient exam rooms, physician offices, minor procedure rooms, and a laser room.

The sixth floor houses two outpatient surgery rooms, a private recovery area, and the Aesthetic Resident Clinic.

History of the Department

Our department was founded in 1955 with the support of myFace, formerly known as the National Foundation for Facial Reconstruction. From that time, we’ve aimed to provide multidisciplinary, specialized care in all areas of plastic surgery.

Early department milestones in the 1960s include the establishment of a hand surgery program, performing our first craniofacial surgery, and the graduation of our first plastic surgery resident. Infant craniofacial and microsurgery procedures followed in the next decade, as did the creation of subspecialized fellowship programs for training in hand surgery, microsurgery and replantation surgery, craniofacial reconstruction, and aesthetic surgery.

In the 1980s, we performed our first mandibular distraction and the world’s first craniofacial distraction. Among the notable accomplishments of the next 10 years was the publication of the 8-volume series Plastic Surgery, edited by former department chair Joseph G. McCarthy, MD.

In the early 2000s, the Newman Family Support Center opened, providing comprehensive psychosocial services to our craniofacial patients. Several years later, we launched NYU Langone Plastic Surgery Associates and created a composite tissue allotransplantation unit.

Since Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, joined us as department chair in 2013, we have made significant strides in facial transplantation. Just two years after his appointment, he led a surgical team of more than 100 medical professionals that performed the most extensive face transplant to date, setting new standards of care in this field. In 2018, Dr. Rodriguez and team successfully performed a second face transplant at NYU Langone. The team was also the first to perform a whole-eye and partial-face transplant in 2023.

Under Dr. Rodriguez’s leadership, we continue to make major contributions to facial transplantation and other plastic surgery subspecialties. One of our most recent initiatives is the expansion of our services for individuals who are transgender or gender diverse, with a multidisciplinary program that provides gender-affirming care.

Contact Us

For more information, contact Dr. Rodriguez, department chair, at Eduardo.Rodriguez@NYULangone.org, or G. Leslie Bernstein, MPA, administrator, at G.Leslie.Bernstein@NYULangone.org, or call 212-263-3030.