Most surgeons measure success in surgical outcomes. Dr. Andrew Jacono has spent much of his career arguing for a broader standard, one that counts the number of lives changed by donated skill and time rather than procedures billed.
That philosophy grew out of an early experience. As a medical student, Dr. Andrew Jacono watched a classmate isolated for a cleft lip and palate undergo reconstructive surgery that transformed both her appearance and her place among peers. The moment convinced him that technical mastery carries an obligation to reach people who cannot pay for it.
A Career Built on That Obligation
Today, Dr. Jacono holds dual board certification in facial plastic surgery and runs a Park Avenue practice in New York. Alongside that private work, he has performed reconstructive surgery for more than 100 domestic violence survivors through the FACE TO FACE project and treated more than 750 children abroad through missions with groups such as Healing the Children and the HUGS Foundation.
His humanitarian travel has taken him to Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Vietnam, typically twice a year, addressing conditions including cleft lip and palate, microtia, facial tumors, and burn scars. To help fund those missions, he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi, and Mount Elbrus as part of dedicated fundraising campaigns.
Passing the Standard to Others
As Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and through academic appointments at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and North Shore University Hospital, Dr. Jacono now trains other surgeons to apply that same standard.
Awards, including a Good Guy Award from the Center for the Women of New York and a congressional commendation from Carolyn McCarthy, have followed the work, but Dr. Jacono’s own measure of success remains the number of patients reached, not the recognition received along the way. Visit this page on LinkedIn, for additional information.
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