Ivona Percec

Ivona Percec (born March 1, 1973) is a board-certified Romanian-American plastic and reconstructive surgeon at the Surgery Department, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Her expertise is in facial and body rejuvenation including: eyelid lifts, facelifts, brow lifts, breast augmentation, breast lift, abdominoplasty, arm lifts, rhinoplasty, fat grafting, cosmetic injectables, skin cancer surgery, skin laser surgery, and others. Also, she specializes in female genital mutilation revision procedures, which she pioneered and for which she has been featured in multiple publications including New York Times.
== Life ==
=== Early life ===
Ivona Percec was born in Iasi, Romania. Her father, Virgil Percec, defected the communist Romania in 1981 when she was 8 years old. After more than a year of waiting for permission, Ivona and her mother Simona, were allowed to emigrate to the USA where her father was holding an Assistant Professor position at Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio and later (1999), joined the University of Pennsylvania, Chemistry Department in Philadelphia, PA as the P. Roy Vagelos Chair and Professor of Chemistry. Ivona attended the public elementary and middle school in Shaker Heights Ohio and the high school at Laurel School, a private school for girls in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
=== Education ===
In 1995, Ivona Percec earned a double major from Princeton University, one in Molecular Biology with Shirley M. Tilghman who became the 19th president of Princeton University (2001-2013) and the second one in Medieval History with William Chester Jordan. In 2004, she graduated from the Medical Scientist Training Program with an MD and a Ph.D. in Genetics from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. 
==== Post-Graduate Training: ====
Resident in Plastic Surgery, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (2004-2010).
==== Appointments: ====
Assistant Professor of Surgery, Associate Director, Cosmetic Surgery, Medical Director, Skin Care Program, and Director, Basic Science Research, Plastic Surgery at University of Pennsylvania Health System.
== Personal life ==
Ivona Percec has two children.
== Research ==
In addition to her surgical work, Percec conducts basic and clinical researchwithin the plastic surgery field. In 2010, she founded the Percec Anti-Aging Lab to delay the aging process by intervening at the cellular level. Studies include how stem cells from fat tissue impact the aging process at various stages as well as how those cells impact scar tissue formation and face and body rejuvenation. Percec's Anti-Aging Lab received international recognition and funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Several of Ivona Percec's research works have been published notably in Science, the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Stem Cells (journal), World Journal of Plastic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery|Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, and others. In addition, she has contributed to advancements within the fields of facial rejuvenation and reconstruction of female genital mutilation (FGM).
== Awards and achievements ==
Ivona Percec co-authored more than 60 scientific articles. She delivered over 42 invited lectures in the past five years. She serves on Editorial board of Annals of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (2017-present), Aesthetic Surgery Journal|Aesthetics Surgery Journal (2018-present) and she is the Section Co- Editor, Research Section, Aesthetic Surgery Journal (2020-present). She functioned as the Panel Organizer and Moderator, Chair and Co-chair at National and International meetings, Co-Director and Expert Faculty Injector – Bootcamp (Colorado), and Organizing Discussant of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal Club. Ivona Percec serves in the Board of Directors of International Federation for Adipose Therapeutics and Science (IFATS) (2019-present) and functioned as its Director in 2020-2021. She is Member of American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), Plastic Surgery Research Counsel (PSRC) (2010-present), American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS), Diplomate (2011-present), Plastic Surgery Foundation Study Section – Basic Science (2013-2020), American Association of Plastic Surgery (AAPS) (2017-present), Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation, Board of Directors (2020-present), Membership Committee (2021-present) and Externship Committee (2022–present).
=== Awards ===
Ivona Percec has earned several awards during school and her career: 
* 1991 National Merit Scholarship.
* 1995 Joseph R. Strayer Prize for Best Medieval Studies Thesis, Princeton University.
* 2001 Student Award Finalist, The American Society for Human Genetics 51st Annual Meeting.
* 2002 John G. Clark Award for Meritorious Research.
* 2002 Saul Winegrad Award for Best Dissertation in Cell and Developmental Biology
* 2003 Outstanding Student Honor Society Alpha Omega Alpha
* 2004 Glascow-Rubin Achievement Award, American Medical Women’s Association
* 2004 Merk Manual Award
* 2009 ASPS Grand Rounds Mentorship Program Award
* 2011 Invited Professorship in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
* 2012 McCabe Fund Fellow Award, University of Pennsylvania
* 2013-2015 American Association of Plastic Surgeons Academic Scholar
* 2015 Plastic Surgery Foundation National Endowment Grant
Category:1973 births
Category:Plastic surgeons
Category:People from Iași
Category:Princeton University alumni