Synopses & Reviews
In December 2008, Maria Siemionow, M.D., made headlines by performing the worlds first near-total face transplant. It was an extraordinary event in a thirty-year medical career marked by many astonishing milestones.
Now she recalls her remarkable journey in Face to Face, a unique memoir that traces the path from her childhood in Poland to her medical training there and in Finland. Her arrival in the United States in the 1980s, as a fellow at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky, confirmed her future as an award-winning researcher and world-class surgeon, leading ultimately to the controversial facial transplant procedure that revolutionized the field.
Weaving fascinating medical science with a captivating life story, Face to Face explores the emotional, cultural, and moral implications of the twenty-first-century advances that have helped Dr. Siemionows work thrive. She also provides details of the perseverance that led her to become the first U.S. physician to receive Institutional Review Board approval for facial transplantation surgery, followed by the poignant selection process as she was bombarded with compelling requests from prospective patients, and ultimately the successful completion of an operation that captured the worlds attention.
Both a chronicle of a groundbreaking surgery and a deeply moving story of personal courage, Face to Face also shares Dr. Siemionows inspiring philosophy about the identities, physiological traits, and biological needs that combine to create our individual faces. Celebrating this triumph of form and function, she transforms the way we feel when we look in the mirror—and the way we think about those who dedicate their lives to healing and hope.
Review
“…a compelling account of the groundbreaking procedure at the Cleveland Clinic.” —Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
In this chronicle of a pioneering life in medicine, surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow recounts her goal to perform the worlds first full face transplant. When Dr. Siemionow announced in December 2005 that she had been granted approval to perform this revolutionary surgery, she was bombarded with media attention and moving requests from people wanting to know who would be eligible for the operation. In December 2008, it was announced that she had completed the nation's first face transplant.
The story of Dr. Siemionow's groundbreaking and controversial pursuit is one of courage and hope and reintroduces readers to their own faces--triumphs of form and function, as she explains. The face in your mirror will never seem quite the same.
Synopsis
In December 2008, Dr. Maria Siemionow made history by leading the team that performed the first near-total face transplant in the United States--an event that transfixed the medical and non-medical communities alike for its surgical, emotional, ethical, and philosophical significance. While transplantation is a daily occurrence around the world, there was something special about this milestone. As Dr. Siemionow says, You need a face to face the world.
In Face to Face, the Polish-born surgeon recounts her 30-year journey to the forefront of American medicine at Cleveland Clinic, one of the world's most respected medical institutions. She describes in detail the events, influences, and patients who informed her passion and fueled her determination.
Dr. Siemionow shares her excitement and her trepidation as she reveals what it takes to strategize against the masterful army that is the immune system, as well as the complex process of identifying a transplant candidate. Face to Face provides a fascinating look at the path Dr. Siemionow and her team followed leading up to the surgery and an epilogue on the groundbreaking transplant that made history.
Synopsis
In December 2008, Maria Siemionow, M.D., made headlines by performing the world's first near-total face transplant. It was an extraordinary event in a thirty-year medical career marked by many astonishing milestones.
Now she recalls her remarkable journey in Face to Face, a unique memoir that traces the path from her childhood in Poland to her medical training there and in Finland. Her arrival in the United States in the 1980s, as a fellow at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky, confirmed her future as an award-winning researcher and world-class surgeon, leading ultimately to the controversial facial transplant procedure that revolutionized the field.
Weaving fascinating medical science with a captivating life story, Face to Face explores the emotional, cultural, and moral implications of the twenty-first-century advances that have helped Dr. Siemionow's work thrive. She also provides details of the perseverance that led her to become the first U.S. physician to receive Institutional Review Board approval for facial transplantation surgery, followed by the poignant selection process as she was bombarded with compelling requests from prospective patients, and ultimately the successful completion of an operation that captured the world's attention.
Both a chronicle of a groundbreaking surgery and a deeply moving story of personal courage, Face to Face also shares Dr. Siemionow's inspiring philosophy about the identities, physiological traits, and biological needs that combine to create our individual faces. Celebrating this triumph of form and function, she transforms the way we feel when we look in the mirror--and the way we think about those who dedicate their lives to healing and hope.
About the Author
Pioneering surgeon
Maria Siemionow, MD, PhD, was awarded her medical degree by Poznan University of Medical Sciences in 1974, after which she completed her residency in orthopedics, and then earned a PhD in microsurgery. In 1985, she completed a hand surgery fellowship at the Christine Kleinert Institute for Hand and Microsurgery in Louisville, Kentucky.
Today she is director of Plastic Surgery Research and the head of Microsurgery Training in the Plastic Surgery Department of Cleveland Clinic. She is on staff at the Clinics Transplantation Center and in the orthopedic surgery and immunology departments. For her research on facial transplant, she received the 2004 and 2007 James Barrett Brown Awards from the American Association of Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Siemionow has been featured in the media including ABC News, CNN, BBC and the New York Times.