More than 750 children with cleft lips, cleft palates, and other facial deformities have received surgery from Dr. Andrew Jacono. Much of that work has come through organizations such as Healing the Children. The motivation dates back to his own school days.
A Classmate He Never Forgot
When he was young, he rode the bus beside a girl born with a cleft lip and palate. Other students taunted her and avoided her. After reconstructive surgery, their behavior changed, and they finally saw her as a person. A January 2026 profile says that experience defined his career goal of repairing faces to transform lives.
Care for Domestic Violence Survivors
Dr. Andrew Jacono humanitarian efforts extend to patients in the United States. Through the FACE TO FACE program, he has provided reconstructive surgery to more than 100 survivors of domestic violence. The Oprah Winfrey Network documented this work in the television series Facing Trauma.
These cases differ sharply from elective cosmetic procedures. Survivors of violence may carry visible injuries that recall their abuse each time they look in a mirror. Reconstructive surgery can help restore their appearance and, for many, a sense of normal life.
That compassion has drawn formal recognition. Dr. Andrew Jacono received the Most Compassionate Doctor Award every year from 2012 through 2022, an honor that fewer than 3% of physicians receive. He is also dual board-certified and widely known for developing the Minimal Access Deep-Plane Extended (MADE) facelift.
His professional standing gives that charitable work extra reach. He holds teaching and leadership roles at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and North Shore University Hospital, and he directs fellowship training for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
His practice operates in Manhattan and Great Neck and serves both celebrities and trauma survivors. Across all of it runs the same idea that took shape on that bus: faces affect how the world treats us and how we view ourselves. Refer to this article to learn more.
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