There is a version of Dr. Andrew Jacono‘s career that exists entirely in his Park Avenue practice, performing facelifts and complex facial procedures for patients who come from across the country and beyond. That version is real. But it exists alongside another: a surgeon who boards planes twice a year for developing countries, sets up in makeshift surgical suites, and performs reconstructive procedures on children who have waited months or years for the kind of care he provides.
Building a Dual Mission
Dr. Andrew Jacono’s humanitarian work developed from a conviction he formed in medical school, when he saw how reconstructive surgery changed the life of a young girl with a cleft lip and palate. Excluded by her peers and unable to participate fully in school, she emerged from surgery with a new face and new standing. Dr. Jacono recognized that the same skills applied in cosmetic surgery could address urgent unmet needs elsewhere.
His international missions have now brought care to more than 750 children across Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries, working through partnerships with Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children. The conditions he treats span cleft lip and palate deformities, microtia, facial tumors, and burn scars. Across these communities, such deformities frequently prevent children from attending school and participating in everyday social life.
Treating Trauma at Home
Dr. Andrew Jacono also works with domestic violence survivors in the United States, providing pro bono reconstructive facial surgery through the FACE TO FACE program under the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The injuries these women carry, including fractured bones and scarring, often remain long after they have escaped dangerous situations. Surgery provides a physical form of closure that supports broader recovery.
Congressional recognition from U.S. Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy and awards from organizations including the Center for the Women of New York have acknowledged the scope of Dr. Jacono’s contributions. He also trains surgical fellows and medical students at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and North Shore University Hospital, ensuring his humanitarian philosophy reaches future generations of physicians. Refer to this article for related information.
More about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://www.facebook.com/DrJacono/