Eduardo D. Rodriguez

Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, serves as the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and as Chair of the Hansjörg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Langone, specializing in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery. Since joining the team, he has done life-changing work, performing three face transplants and the world’s first face and double hand transplant. The son of Cuban immigrants, Dr. Rodriguez was born and raised in Miami and has received numerous degrees in higher education that helped shape his distinguished career.

Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, joined the faculty of NYU Langone Health in November 2013 as the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and as Chair of the Hansjӧrg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery. He is dual-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

At NYU Langone, Dr. Rodriguez leads the Vascular Composite Allotransplantation (VCA) program, which encompasses face and limb transplantation. Two face transplants have been performed at NYU Langone since the program was established leading to wide recognition for their superior outcomes.

In August 2020, Dr. Rodriguez performed the world’s first successful face and double hand transplant on a 22-year-old New Jersey resident who had been severely burned in a horrific car crash.

NYU Langone’s VCA Program has established a novel patient-specific, donor-patient matching protocol and an antirejection medication regimen to lessen drug toxicity without increasing risk of transplant rejection. Dr. Rodriguez and his team continue to plan for future transplant procedures and grow the program’s clinical, research, and education efforts.

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, and the son of Cuban immigrants, Dr. Rodriguez attended Belen Jesuit High School, where he serves as a highly-active alumnus, mentoring students and giving back to the community. He subsequently earned his BS in neurobiology from the University of Florida in 1988, followed by a DDS from New York University in 1992. Dr. Rodriguez completed his residency in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Montefiore Medical Center Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1997. He earned his MD from the Medical College of Virginia in 1999 and completed general surgery training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001, followed by a combined plastic surgery program at Johns Hopkins Hospital University of Maryland Medical Center in 2003. He also completed an International Reconstructive Microsurgery Fellowship at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, in 2004.