San Diego, CA  (April 30 , 2017) – The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) today elected New Jersey-based plastic surgeon Barry DiBernardo, MD as its new President. ASERF is the philanthropic research and education arm of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) whose mission is to identify and pursue those issues relevant to the advancement, effectiveness and safety of aesthetic surgery through directed research and education for the purpose of benefiting patients, physicians and the entire field of medicine.

Dr. DiBernardo, Medical Director of New Jersey Plastic Surgery, is also an associate clinical professor in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and a past president of the New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons. He also serves on the advisory board to many leading skincare and injectable technology companies worldwide.

As President of ASERF, Dr. DiBernardo’s goals will include providing a means for interested ASAPS and ASERF members to conduct clinical aesthetic research online, addressing criticism of biased corporate research in aesthetic products, and exploring new funding options for ASERF-supported research.

“Having taught my first instructional course in Clinical Photography at an ASAPS meeting as a plastic surgery resident, it is a great honor to now lead its research arm ASERF, as President, 27 years later. Having dedicated the last 25 years in Plastic Surgery to education and research in aesthetics, it is an exciting time to take the helm of such a robust research and education-based group”, DiBernardo states.

DiBernardo graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1984, receiving the institution’s Charles H. Horn Prize for outstanding leadership and service to the medical community. He spent five years as a general surgeon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Florida, before embarking on a two-year residency in plastic surgery at the Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. In 1991, DiBernardo established his private practice in New Jersey, where he has served as Medical Director ever since. DiBernardo has received the Leo M. Davidoff Award for teaching distinction at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as well as the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons’ National Scientific Exhibit Award.

“Dr. DiBernardo has always been a proponent of research and education, both teaching on an international scale and publishing in medical journals including the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. I can think of no other surgeon in the world who has been at the forefront of as many new technologies as DiBernardo has been - and with each development he has carried out scientific research, published, and taught these techniques to other surgeons.  He has already made an extraordinary contribution to our specialty and with his background and dedication I am sure that he will take ASERF to extraordinary levels,” notes Steven Teitelbaum, MD, Immediate Past-President of ASERF.

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About ASERF
The Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit foundation whose mission is to fund research that will advance the field of aesthetic surgery through directed physician-initiated research. ASERF is supported exclusively by private donations and research revenues.  For more information, visit www.aserf.org.