Neal Handel

Biography

Neal Handel, MD, FACS, is a native of Los Angeles. He graduated with honors from Columbia
University in New York City, where he received his bachelor’s degree with a major in Art History.
Dr. Handel attended Yale University School of Medicine and received his medical degree in
1973. He did residency in General Surgery at UCLA and completed his training in Plastic Surgery
at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Following residency, Dr. Handel underwent
fellowship training in England and Scotland prior to entering practice in Los Angeles in 1980.
For 17 years Dr. Handel was the Associate Director and Senior Plastic Surgeon at The Breast
Center, in Van Nuys, California. The Breast Center was an internationally recognized facility
specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of all types of breast disorders. During this time Dr.
Handel gained extensive experience in various facets of cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of
the breast. In addition to perfecting his skills in breast surgery, Dr. Handel has maintained a busy
cosmetic surgery practice, performing hundreds of cosmetic operations of the eyelids, nose and
face as well as body contouring procedures.

Dr. Handel has also been active in research and teaching and has written more than 60 articles
published in peer reviewed medical journals; an article that Dr. Handel published in Plastic and
Reconstructive Surgery in 2013 was selected as “Best Paper” of the year. Dr. Handel has
contributed twelve chapters to medical textbooks and recently coedited a text on revision
breast surgery entitled Problems in Breast Surgery: A Repair Manual. Dr. Handel is actively
involved in teaching at UCLA Medical School, where he is an Associate Clinical Professor in the
Division of Plastic Surgery. He is frequently invited as a panelist and speaker at national and
international plastic surgery meetings and has been invited to perform live surgery at the
prestigious Baker Gordon Symposium as well as at plastic surgery meetings in Korea, China and
Russia.

Dr. Handel is certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery, is a member of the American
Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and is a Fellow of
the American College of Surgeons. In addition, he is a member of the American Association of
Plastic Surgeons, an exclusive “by invitation only” professional society limited to less than 1% of
American plastic surgeons.

Dr. Handel has been interviewed on numerous occasions for articles in newspapers and
magazines, and has appeared on many television programs, including a feature role in “Plastic
Surgery Beverly Hills”, a ten-part documentary, which aired in 2005 and 2006 on The Learning
Channel (TLC).

Dr. Handel has been named to numerous “best doctors” lists. Most recently he was named by Los Angeles Magazine as one of Southern California’s “Super Doctors” in both 2011 and 2012. Castle and Connolly listed him among America’s “Top Doctors” in 2011 and 2012 and 2013 and Dr. Handel is listed on Best Doctors, Inc. database for 2013.

Education

Post-Residency Fellowship, Mt Vernon Hospital, UK and Canniesburn Hospital, Scotland
Plastic Surgery Residency, University of Colorado Medical Center, Denver, Colorado
Art History, Columbia University, New York
Medical School, Yale University, New Haven
General Surgery Residency, UCLA Los Angeles and Tulane University, New Orleans

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

All aspects of aesthetic plastic surgery; aesthetic and reconstructive breast surgery

Books

Articles