When Dr. Andrew Jacono completed his surgical training and built a practice in New York, he also made a decision that would shape the rest of his career: the same technical mastery that attracted private patients would be directed, consistently and at scale, toward those with no means to pay. That decision has produced more than two decades of humanitarian surgery across domestic violence programs and international pediatric missions.
Dr. Jacono is a dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon recognized among the leading practitioners in his field. His private work and his charitable work draw on the same set of skills reconstructing faces damaged by genetics, accident, or violence but operate in vastly different contexts, from a Park Avenue clinic to a surgical tent in Southeast Asia.
Confronting the Aftermath of Violence
Since joining the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery’s FACE TO FACE program, Dr. Andrew Jacono has performed reconstructive surgeries for more than 100 domestic violence survivors. The program, for which he serves as senior advisor, coordinates pro bono care for individuals whose facial injuries resulted from abuse. Procedures range from scar revision to reconstruction of bones that were broken and never properly treated.
For nine years, Dr. Jacono also chaired ABOUT FACE: MAKING CHANGES, an annual charitable benefit that raised funds for domestic violence survivors. That sustained organizational commitment not just individual surgeries reflects an understanding that humanitarian impact requires infrastructure as well as skilled hands. The Center for the Women of New York honored him with a “Good Guy” Award in 2006, and a Congressional commendation from U.S. Representative Carolyn McCarthy entered his work into the public record.
The television series Facing Trauma, which aired starting in 2011 on Discovery Fit & Health before moving to the Oprah Winfrey Network, documented this dimension of Dr. Jacono’s career. Each episode combined medical detail with patient narrative, giving viewers direct exposure to the stakes of reconstructive surgery for trauma survivors.
Pediatric Missions Worldwide
Dr. Andrew Jacono travels internationally approximately twice per year with organizations including Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children. He has worked in Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries, addressing deformities including cleft lips and palates, microtia, facial tumors, and extensive burn scarring. The total count of children he has treated through these missions exceeds 750.
Many of these children face severe social exclusion because of their visible conditions. A cleft palate may prevent a child from speaking clearly or eating normally; a visible facial deformity can mean exclusion from school or community life in regions where stigma runs deep. The corrective surgeries Dr. Jacono performs provide functional improvements alongside the social ones. His academic roles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and as Fellowship Director for the AAFPRS ensure that the philosophy behind this work is passed to surgeons in training. Refer to this article for related information.
Visit for more about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://www.youtube.com/c/drandrewjacono
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When Dr. Andrew Jacono completed his surgical training and built a practice in New York, he also made a decision that would shape the rest of his career: the same technical mastery that attracted private patients would be directed, consistently and at scale, toward those with no means to pay. That decision has produced more than two decades of humanitarian surgery across domestic violence programs and international pediatric missions.
Dr. Jacono is a dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon recognized among the leading practitioners in his field. His private work and his charitable work draw on the same set of skills reconstructing faces damaged by genetics, accident, or violence but operate in vastly different contexts, from a Park Avenue clinic to a surgical tent in Southeast Asia.
Confronting the Aftermath of Violence
Since joining the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery’s FACE TO FACE program, Dr. Andrew Jacono has performed reconstructive surgeries for more than 100 domestic violence survivors. The program, for which he serves as senior advisor, coordinates pro bono care for individuals whose facial injuries resulted from abuse. Procedures range from scar revision to reconstruction of bones that were broken and never properly treated.
For nine years, Dr. Jacono also chaired ABOUT FACE: MAKING CHANGES, an annual charitable benefit that raised funds for domestic violence survivors. That sustained organizational commitment not just individual surgeries reflects an understanding that humanitarian impact requires infrastructure as well as skilled hands. The Center for the Women of New York honored him with a “Good Guy” Award in 2006, and a Congressional commendation from U.S. Representative Carolyn McCarthy entered his work into the public record.
The television series Facing Trauma, which aired starting in 2011 on Discovery Fit & Health before moving to the Oprah Winfrey Network, documented this dimension of Dr. Jacono’s career. Each episode combined medical detail with patient narrative, giving viewers direct exposure to the stakes of reconstructive surgery for trauma survivors.
Pediatric Missions Worldwide
Dr. Andrew Jacono travels internationally approximately twice per year with organizations including Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children. He has worked in Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries, addressing deformities including cleft lips and palates, microtia, facial tumors, and extensive burn scarring. The total count of children he has treated through these missions exceeds 750.
Many of these children face severe social exclusion because of their visible conditions. A cleft palate may prevent a child from speaking clearly or eating normally; a visible facial deformity can mean exclusion from school or community life in regions where stigma runs deep. The corrective surgeries Dr. Jacono performs provide functional improvements alongside the social ones. His academic roles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and as Fellowship Director for the AAFPRS ensure that the philosophy behind this work is passed to surgeons in training. Refer to this article for related information.
Visit for more about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://www.youtube.com/c/drandrewjacono