The mission of the Foundation is to assist the educational, patient care and research needs of the Division of Plastic Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

• To provide state-of-the-art treatment and financial support for needy patients.
  
  
• To provide the finest surgical training, education and research for plastic surgery residents, fellows and medical students.

The Foundation for Plastic Surgery is dedicated to advancement in reconstructive surgery through laboratory research and innovative procedures.

Our laboratories are actively developing substitutes for bone grafts, which can be used to reshape congenital facial deformities. This work uses the patient's own stem cells and genetically engineered, purified proteins that have the ability to stimulate and induce new bone growth. We have (quite accidentally) discovered that this research has promising applications in the fight against osteoporosis (essentially the opposite of developing new bone).

We have been the pioneers nationally in new techniques for breast reconstruction following mastectomy. Our surgeons can safely reconstruct an entire breast without the painful use of abdominal muscles. Our results show best outcomes in terms of quality of end result; moreover our success rate of these technically challenging procedures is 99.3%.

We have made significant advances in the treatment of patients with large defects following the removal of skin cancer. We have the ability to reconstruct a nose, lip, ear or eyelid following tumor excision. Surprisingly, these are usually outpatient procedures. Our ongoing clinical research continues to develop new reconstructive techniques for major traumatic injuries, congenitally acquired defects and burn victims.

We continue to provide not only the best quality of care but highly technical and innovative surgical procedures such as the separation of the Guatemalan twins, conjoined at the head and the young Iraqi girl whose nose was totally reconstructed.