Get to Know Me
A native of Italy, I trained in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Palermo before coming to the U.S., where I first completed three post-doctoral fellowships at USC, Harvard and Johns Hopkins, and then completed a full residency in plastic surgery at the Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland program. I graduated with an additional burn fellowship before continuing my education at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to focus on craniofacial and pediatric plastic surgery.
Why I Treat Children
There is nothing more daunting than seeing a child suffer or be in need and nothing more rewarding than caring for them and restoring their life and joy. When I was a child, a personal experience noting the sadness in a burned teenager made me want to help restoring happiness in people by treating their conditions and facial differences. For these reasons I decided to devote my life to the care of children.
What I'm Passionate About
I am very passionate about the possibility to treat patients from head to toe, something that plastic surgery is uniquely poised to do. A special interest of mine is ear reconstruction, especially in microtia patients, for which I have developed a special device to aid in the cartilage cutting and carving process. I am also very interested in providing treatment to patients who have intractable migraines due to head concussions, a condition called occipital neuralgia, as I have seen how a simple surgery can truly free them from a debilitating condition. Cleft care and speech surgery are also two areas of focus of my practice, and in my free time I raise funds to help underserved areas abroad provide much needed cleft care. At work, I am keen in creating a cooperative workplace in which the focus is truly centered on excellence in patients’ care.
My medical interests and expertise includes:
- Ear reconstruction
- Microtia repair
- Cauliflower ear treatment
- Prominent ears
- Ear molding
- Occipital neuralgia
- Benign and malignant skin cancer
- Orthognathic surgery
- Cleft lip and cleft palate care
- Skull deformities
- Hemifacial microsomia
- Craniofacial syndromes
- Vascular lesions and tumors
- Keloid treatment
- General pediatric plastic surgery
How I Try to Make A Difference
I consider every patient as if they were my own kids. I never take for granted the immense privilege parents give us in treating their child, and it is our duty to always perform at our best ability. I like to bring innovation in the operating room by finding novel solutions to old problems using the technologies that we are lucky to have to our disposal.
