Eduardo D. Rodriguez

After completing his postgraduate training, Rodriguez returned to Baltimore, MD. Intending to help wounded soldiers, the United States Department of Defense expressed interest in funding studies in facial transplantation. Rodriguez used a large animal model to establish a proof of concept for facial transplantation as part of an Office of Naval Research Grant that aimed to provide technical support for clinical trials in humans.[9]

In March 2012, he led a team of approximately 150 medical experts to perform what was called the "most extensive face transplant" at the time, a procedure that required 36 hours in the operating room.[10] The recipient was 37-year-old Richard Norris, who had suffered a facial gunshot injury in 1997. The transplant included the skin of the donor’s entire face and anterior neck, the upper and lower jaws, teeth, and tongue. In 2013, Rodriguez was named the inaugural Paul N. Manson, MD Distinguished Professor in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.[11]

In 2013, Rodriguez began work at NYU Langone Health as the Chair of the Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery.[1] On August 15, 2015, Rodriguez led a surgical team of more than 100 medical professionals to perform an extensive face transplant in a 41-year-old retired firefighter Patrick Hardison.[12] The patient received the face of David Rodebaugh, who passed away after a tragic cycling accident.[13]

On January 5, 2018, Rodriguez again led a surgical team from NYU Langone Health to perform the institution’s second face transplant.[14] The recipient was 24-year-old Cameron Underwood of Yuba City, California, who suffered a self-inflicted facial gunshot wound in June 2016. As a result of the initial injury and despite several attempts at conventional reconstruction, Underwood still missed most of his lower jaw, all but one tooth, and his nose. He also suffered damage to the maxillary region (upper face) and palate, severely impairing his ability to eat, speak, and lead a normal life. The surgery took approximately 25 hours and involved the transfer of the donor’s facial skin below the eyes, the entire nose, both jaws, and teeth.

On August 12, 2020, Rodriguez led a team of over 140 personnel in successfully transplanting the face and both hands of a brain-dead donor onto 22-year-old Joseph Dimeo.[15] In June 2018, Dimeo suffered full-thickness burns to over 80% of his body after a high-speed car accident,[16] leaving him severely disfigured and incapable of independently performing many basic activities of daily living. The transplant procedure lasted approximately 23 hours and involved the replacement of the entire facial soft tissue (extending from the anterior hairline to the neck, including the eyelids, nose, lips, and ears, along with strategic skeletal components), as well as both hands at the distal forearm level.