Meet Plastic Surgeon Dr. Caroline Glicksman In New Jersey

Female Plastic Surgeons Bring a Unique Perspective

Dr. Caroline Glicksman is a board-certified plastic surgeon in New Jersey, in private practice in Sea Girt since 1991. She attended the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts, and in 1980 received a BS in microbiology and a BA in sociology. Dr. Glicksman went on to attend the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, receiving her MD in 1985. After completing her general surgery training at Mount Sinai Hospital in NYC, she completed her plastic surgery residency at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in 1991. She then went on to complete an additional fellowship in cosmetic surgery at the prestigious Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She is currently a student at Seton Hall Law School expected to complete her Masters in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Law in 2020.

The first female Medical Director of a breast implant clinical trial, in the United States, Dr. Glicksman strives to improve outcomes for women undergoing breast augmentation and breast reconstruction. She continues to lecture nationally and internationally and has authored numerous published papers and textbook chapters. Her published works as a plastic surgeon can be found in prestigious plastic surgery textbooks and journals covering topics including the management of breast implant complications, the correction of chest wall deformities and breast asymmetry, the Diagnosis of BIA-ALCL, the standardization of bra cup sizing, and patient education in breast augmentation.

As early as 1992 it was becoming apparent that insurance coverage for breast reconstruction was in jeopardy. Soon after starting her own private practice, Dr. Glicksman became active in the fight to mandate insurance coverage for breast reconstruction. Working with the American Cancer Society in New Jersey, she helped draft legislation requiring insurance companies to cover breast reconstruction as well as any procedure on the opposite breast to produce symmetry.

Dr. Glicksman also became engaged in the silicone breast implant controversy shortly after the FDA announced its moratorium on silicone gel breast implants in 1992. In 2003, 2005, and 2011, she testified before the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health’s Advisory Panel on Silicone Breast Implants. She is credited with bringing more patients to testify on behalf of silicone safety than any other physician in the country. In 2005, she represented both the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) at a Capitol Hill Briefing in Washington, DC, as a member of the National Breast Implant Task Force. Again in 2019 she provided testimony for the FDA Advisory Panel on Silicone Breast Implants.

Breast implant clinical trials have been a significant part of plastic surgeon Dr. Glicksman’s practice since 1995. She participated in some of the earliest clinical trials with saline implants in the late 1990s, as well as the round silicone gels prior to their FDA approval in 2006. In 2005, she was invited to travel to Sweden for extensive training in the use of shaped, highly cohesive gel breast implants, known as Gummy Bear” implants.

Since 2005, Dr. Glicksman has enrolled thousands of patients in clinical trials for breast augmentation, breast reconstruction, and breast implant revision surgeries. Through breast implant clinical trials sponsored by the manufacturers of newer silicone gel implants, Dr. Glicksman, along other leading principle investigators around the country, has developed the curriculum to teach residents and plastic surgeons the best practices for performing breast implant procedures. As the Medical Director for the Motiva Silicone Filled Breast Implant Trial, Dr. Glicksman oversees clinical investigators in the United States and four countries in Europe and the UK.

Plastic surgeon Dr. Glicksman’s first publication in a peer-reviewed medical journal was at the age of 17. She continues to contribute to the literature and is an Associate Editor for the Aesthetic Surgery Journal and a member of the editorial team for the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the two leading plastic surgery journals published in the United States. A member of the Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation (ASERF) Board and Vice-Chair of the ASERF scientific committee, she reviews and awards research grants to plastic surgeons and researchers around the world. Dr. Glicksman is also a 2015 recipient of an ASERF research grant to document the efficacy of her patented Breast Implant Teaching Model. She holds two United States patents, and one patent pending design related to breast surgery. Currently the co-chair of the Breast Section and active member of the Medical Advisory Board for the Plastic Surgery Channel, she is a frequent contributor of credible plastic surgery information, covering topics including breast implant safety and patient education. Dr. Glicksman has four children and is married to an orthopaedic surgeon.