The surgical conditions Dr. Andrew Jacono treats during his international missions are varied, but they share a common thread: left unaddressed, each one limits a child’s ability to participate fully in school, community, and ordinary daily life. Cleft lip and palate make eating, drinking, and speaking difficult. Microtia, the congenital absence of one or both ears, marks children visually and can impair hearing. Facial tumors and burn scars carry their own functional and social burdens. These are the cases Dr. Jacono and his teams take on during approximately two medical trips annually.

Dr. Andrew Jacono leads these missions through partnerships with Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children. His travels have taken him to Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, Vietnam, and other countries in Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America. In total, he has provided surgical care to more than 750 children in regions where specialized reconstructive procedures are financially and geographically out of reach for most families.

Surgery as Social Change

The outcomes of these procedures extend beyond physical correction. In many of the communities Dr. Andrew Jacono visits, children with visible facial differences face significant stigma. A cleft lip can be grounds for exclusion from school. A facial tumor can lead to social ostracism that shapes a child’s development and opportunities for years. When surgery removes these barriers, children can reenter ordinary life with a different trajectory.

Dr. Jacono has spoken about the moment that first made this connection clear to him: watching a girl on his school bus undergo reconstruction for a cleft lip and palate and return to school with changed social standing. That formative observation, made during his time in medical school, underlies the seriousness with which he has approached humanitarian work ever since.

Training the Next Generation

As Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Andrew Jacono shapes how future surgeons think about service. He teaches fellows to see humanitarian work not as an addition to surgical practice but as part of its core purpose. His positions at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and North Shore University Hospital provide further reach for this message across medical education. Refer to this article for more information.

Find more information about Mark Lamberti on https://www.bbntimes.com/science/what-peer-recognition-and-national-rankings-reveal-about-dr-andrew-jacono-s-surgical-reputation