From Colombia to Vietnam, Dr. Andrew Jacono has carried his surgical skills to some of the places where reconstructive care is hardest to find. The dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon has partnered with organizations including Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children to reach more than 750 children born with facial deformities across developing regions.
His missions typically happen twice a year, and he often brings fellow surgeons or family members along to help treat as many children as possible during each trip. The conditions he addresses range from cleft lip and palate to microtia, facial tumors, and burn scars, deformities that can carry heavy social costs in the communities where these children live.
Function and Stigma Addressed Together
A cleft lip does more than change how a child looks. It can interfere with eating and speaking, and in many communities it can keep a child from attending school or socializing normally with peers. Dr. Andrew Jacono’s surgical missions aim to resolve both the medical and social dimensions of these conditions in a single visit.
Families in Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Vietnam who could never afford specialized surgical care on their own gain access to it through these missions, often receiving procedures that permanently change a child’s daily life and long-term prospects.
A Practice Rooted in an Early Lesson
Dr. Jacono has traced this commitment back to his years as a medical student, when he saw a girl treated for cleft lip and palate return to school and experience a dramatically different reception from classmates who once teased her. That memory shaped a career that now spans a Park Avenue cosmetic practice and international volunteer missions in equal measure.
He funds part of this work through mountain climbs, including ascents of Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi, and Elbrus, and trains future surgeons as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. See related link for more information.
Learn more about Dr. Andrew Jacono on https://ceoworld.biz/2026/02/28/facelift-longevity-why-dr-andrew-jaconos-approach-lasts-over-a-decade/