- Jean-Paul Abboud, MD, PhD
The health, safety, and happiness of my patients are paramount. I will provide you with the personalized care that you deserve by listening to your concerns and goals and by formulating a treatment plan tailored to your aesthetic desires and distinctive features. My goal is to achieve the beautiful and natural-appearing results you desire in the safest possible environment.
MEET DR. ABBOUD
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Dr. Jean-Paul Abboud is a fellowship-trained Oculofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon in San Diego, CA. He is also board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and an active member of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS). He specializes in reconstructive and cosmetic eyelid surgery (e.g., blepharoplasty), brow and forehead lifts, facial and orbital surgery, and non-surgical procedures for facial rejuvenation. As an oculoplastic surgeon, he is trained and uniquely qualified to diagnose and manage diseases of the eye socket and the lacrimal (tear drainage) system, and to treat facial trauma and complex eyelid injuries.
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Dr. Abboud's educational journey began with a combined M.D. and Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School through the highly-competitive Rutgers University/Princeton University Physician Scientist Program. He then completed an internship in General Surgery at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and a residency in Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Diego's Shiley Eye Institute in La Jolla, CA, where he was trained on the delicate microsurgical techniques of ophthalmic (eye and eyelid) surgery.
Dr. Abboud is among a select group of ophthalmic surgeons (around 20 admitted each year) who have pursued further specialty training dedicated to Orbital and Oculofacial Plastic Surgery. He completed his fellowship at West Virginia University, one of only four prestigious fellowship programs in the country that are both sponsored by the American Society of Ophthalmic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery (ASOPRS) and accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
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Dr. Abboud is a dedicated humanitarian, often volunteering for international outreach efforts and providing oculofacial surgical care to children and adults in medically underserved areas. He also sees pediatric patients at Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, where he is often called upon to perform complex surgeries on children - including newborns - with oculofacial disorders. Dr. Abboud is passionate about teaching others his craft and he is an avid artist who enjoys painting, photography, and digital design. He is fluent in Arabic and proficient in French, and he loves spending time with his wife and his two young children.
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FROM COLLEGE TO OCULOFACIAL PLASTIC SURGERY
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Dr. Abboud went to college at Rutgers University in New Jersey where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences. He subsequently enrolled in the highly-competitive Princeton University/Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Physician Scientist Program where he earned an M.D. degree and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. Under the guidance of world-renowned developmental neuroscientist, Dr. Richard Nowakowski, he studied the neural development of the eye with particular emphasis on the retina. This research became subject of his doctoral thesis, titled "A Comprehensive in silico Model of Retinal Neurogenesis."
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Dr. Abboud's surgical training began at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the University Medical Center of Princeton where he completed an internship in General Surgery. He then moved to San Diego to pursue residency training in Ophthalmology and spent three years learning the delicate microsurgical techniques of ophthalmic (eye and eyelid) surgery at the University of California San Diego's Shiley Eye Institute in La Jolla, CA. He was then chosen among a select group of ophthalmic surgeons to conduct further specialty fellowship training dedicated to Orbital and Oculofacial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery. He completed his fellowship at West Virginia University, one of only four prestigious fellowship programs in the country that are both sponsored by the American Society of Ophthalmic and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery (ASOPRS) and accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). Following his extensive training, Dr. Abboud achieved board certification by the American Board of Ophthalmology and was subsequently admitted into the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS) as an active member.
SURGEON
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Prior to enrolling in medical school, Dr. Abboud worked as an anesthesia assistant in the operating rooms at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. There, he observed surgeons artfully perform with their hands. He would often spend hours mimicking their hand movements, tying knots around anything through which he could thread a suture. This experience cemented his decision to become a surgeon. He was particularly intrigued by the artistry and skills of the plastic surgeons he observed and soon grew an interest in facial surgery. While an intern in General Surgery, he returned to the same operating rooms where he once worked and joined in surgery the masterful surgeons he had admired. From them, he learned the fundamentals of surgery and started developing his own surgical skills. He further refined his skills and learned the intricate microsurgical techniques of ophthalmic surgery during his Ophthalmology residency at the University of California San Diego, where he performed delicate surgeries in and on the eye. He grew an appreciation for the sensitive nature of the eyes and the intimate role of the eyelids in protecting them. During his fellowship in Orbital and Oculofacial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at West Virginia University, he had extensive advanced training in all facets of adult and pediatric oculoplastic surgery, including reconstructive and cosmetic eyelid surgery, orbital surgery, lacrimal surgery, facial trauma, and facial aesthetics. He also trained in the multi-disciplinary surgical approach to the sinuses and skull base while working with colleagues in Otolaryngology and Neurosurgery, and in laser medicine while working with specialists in Dermatology.
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ARTIST
Dr. Abboud began painting when he was a teenager. He prefers working with oil on canvas with focus on portraiture and facial expression. He is a fan of Italian Renaissance era painters, such as Guido Reni, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo. His most recent works are influenced by contemporary artists, such as Chuck Close, Jonathan Yeo, and Shepard Fairey.
Dr. Abboud also enjoys pyrographic portraiture, where he burns portraits of his subjects on wood.
During his college years, he ventured into 35 mm black-and-white film photography, often spending hours developing his prints in a darkroom. The first SLR he bought was a Canon. Ever since, he has been an unapologetic Canon user. Over the last decade, he has shifted his photographic interests to digital medium and now dedicates most of his photographic endeavors to taking portraits of his two children. He is influenced by portrait photographers, such as Marco Grob, Martin Schoeller, and Annie Leibovitz.
St. Matthew and the Angel. Oil on Canvas. Jean-Paul Abboud. 1997
- Dr. Jean-Paul Abboud
Oculofacial Plastic Surgery draws on personal artistic qualities and the aesthetic principles of beauty, symmetry, and foresight that I employ in painting, photography, and digital design. These are the same principles I have found in the precision of the surgical incision and the brushstroke alike, and in the requisite foresight needed before reshaping tissue or clicking the shutter.
SCIENTIST/ENGINEER
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Dr. Abboud has had an inquisitive mind since childhood. He has always been eager for knowledge and fascinated with how and why things worked. As a young boy fueled with curiosity, he would disassemble electronic devices, learn about their intricate parts, then reassemble them. He invented and designed little gizmos and gadgets: a fanning cap for hot summer days, a cardboard remote-controlled car, even a barely functional electronic radio transmitter that he built from parts of a perfectly functional radio, and many more.
When he was 9 years old, as a Christmas present, his mother bought him a set of the World Book Encyclopedia to appease his desire to learn and to help answer his many questions. He would spend hours each day reading these books, learning about anything and everything. He was particularly inspired by prominent historical figures and polymaths, such as Hippocrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison. Soon he became determined to be just like them: he wanted to be a physician, an artist, a scientist, and an inventor.
It was his bend for problem solving and creativity that had initially led him to pursue doctoral studies in biomedical engineering. Fascinated by the workings of the eye, he studied the development of the neural retina and developed a model of retinal neurogenesis, particularly in individuals with oculocutaneous albinism and ocular albinism. He has presented his doctoral thesis and his research findings at several scientific conferences around the country.
Dr. Abboud's dedication to research is driven by an intellectual curiosity and an urge to contribute to medicine. His research interests aim to couple his background in biomedical engineering with oculoplastic surgery, namely in the field of bioimaging and biodesign. With his current research, he endeavors to further understand the disease process of patients with Thyroid Eye Disease by analyzing the kinematics of eyelid and globe excursion using high speed photography. He is also working on actualizing other investigative ideas using thermography, high resolution imaging, infrared photography, ultrasonography, and other bioimaging modalities to help in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of his patients.
TEACHER
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Dr. Abboud inherited his love for teaching from his parents, who were both passionate educators. He has made an effort to teach others at every opportunity. As a graduate student at Rutgers University, he was awarded two teaching assistantships: one in General Biology with the School of Arts & Science and another in Anatomy & Physiology with the School of Nursing. As an ophthalmology resident at UCSD, he received the Outstanding Teacher Award for dedication to resident and medical student teaching. As a fellow and clinical instructor in Oculofacial Plastic Surgery at West Virginia University, he was heavily involved in resident education, having organized several lectures, suture workshops, and dissection courses. Dr. Abboud believes that there is no greater personal privilege than to be able to pass on what he has learned onto the next generation of oculoplastic surgeons.
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Dr. Abboud has authored book chapters and peer-reviewed articles on various topics in Oculoplastic Surgery. He has presented his research and shared his experience and surgical techniques at several national and international conferences.
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HUMANITARIAN
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Dr. Abboud has been involved in international outreach work, providing oculofacial surgical care to children and adults in medically underserved areas.
He recently traveled to San Cristóbal del Las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico as part of the Scripps Mercy Outreach Surgical Team (MOST) and to Vanua Levu, Fiji, where, he performed surgical repair of congenital ptosis, entropion and epiblepharon repair, excision of facial lesions, eyelid and facial reconstruction, treatment of facial burns, excision of orbital tumors. and surgical treatment of children and adults with blepharophimosis syndrome (pictured). He is also a volunteer surgeon with the Fresh Start Surgical Gifts at Rady Children's Hospital.
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Check out this blog entry that chronicles Dr. Abboud's mission trip to Mexico or this feature article published in the San Diego Union Tribune.
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DR. ABBOUD'S CREDENTIALS
ACADEMIC SUMMARY
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Undergraduate: B.S. in Biological Sciences, Rutgers University
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Medical School: M.D., Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
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Graduate School: Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers - Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
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via the Princeton University/Rutgers University Physician-Scientist Program
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SURGICAL TRAINING
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Internship: General Surgery, Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
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Residency: Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego, Shiley Eye Institute
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Fellowship: Oculofacial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, West Virginia University
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BOARD CERTIFICATION
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American Board of Ophthalmology
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MEDICAL LICENSURES
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Medical Board of California
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Texas Medical Board
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PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPS
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American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (ASOPRS)
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American Academy of Ophthalmology
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HOSPITAL AFFILIATIONS
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Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla
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Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas
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Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego
AFFILIATIONS . BOARDS . CERTIFICATIONS
