Dr. Vasile

Dr. Julie Vasile has extensive training in plastic and reconstructive surgery and microsurgical breast reconstruction. She operates at Stamford Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, and Greenwich Hospital in Connecticut and New York Eye and Ear Infirmary in New York City.

Dr. Vasile graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with the highest Summa Cum Laude honor and 4.0 GPA. She was inducted into the Order of Omega Honor Society. During her studies in college and medical school, Dr. Vasile conducted basic laboratory research in the S.A. Localio General Surgical Laboratory at NYU Medical Center. The research was on the angiogenesis (vascular supply) of colon cancer cells, which lead to presentations and publications. Dr. Vasile received her doctor of medicine degree from Albany Medical College, where she was inducted into the prestigious honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha, and received the W. Brandon Macomber Honorary Award for achievement, proficiency, interest, and potential in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Skill And Excellence Through Training

Dr. Vasile completed a broad, five year general surgical training program at Montefiore Medical Center, Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein Weiler Medical Center, and North Central Bronx Hospital in Bronx, New York. Dr. Vasile was a chief resident in general surgery during the last year of training and was entrusted to additional duties as co-administrative chief resident. The general surgery training program resulted in presentations on biliary abnormalities and lead to a publication in the Obesity Surgery journal.

Dr. Vasile completed an additional residency in plastic and reconstructive surgery with the Long Island Plastic Surgical Group at Nassau University Medical Center, North Shore University Hospital, Mercy Medical Center, Winthrop University Hospital, Southside Hospital, and DayOp Ambulatory Surgical Center. Dr. Vasile was a chief resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery during the last year of training, and again was entrusted to additional duties as co-administrative chief resident. The plastic and reconstructive training program lead to a presentation on the use of allograft in reconstructive and cosmetic breast surgery to plastic surgeons in Beijing, China, a presentation on different surgical techniques and outcomes with the umbilicus (belly button) during abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) procedures to plastic surgeons at the Long Island Annual Clinic Day, and a presentation on the treatment of the lower lip in facial paralysis to plastic surgeons at the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons, and New York Regional Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Dr. Vasile then completed a full year of training in microsurgical perforator flap breast reconstruction, a surgical technique that allows for autologous (your own skin and fat) reconstruction without harming the muscle. Her training encompassed the following flaps: deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP), superior gluteal artery perforator (SGAP), inferior gluteal artery perforator (IGAP), transverse upper gracilis (TUG), transverse upper thigh perforator (TUT), intercostal artery perforator (ICAP), thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP), deep femoral artery perforator (DFAP), and lumbar artery perforator (LAP) flap at the Center for the Advancement of Breast Reconstruction at New York Eye and Ear Infirmary with Dr. Joshua L. Levine and Dr. Robert J. Allen. Dr. Vasile is the author and co-author of chapters in Surgery of the Breast: Principles and Art, 3rd edition, and Flaps and Reconstructive Surgery, 1st edition, and simultaneous breast reconstruction with in-the-crease gluteal artery perforator (IGAP) flaps in the Annals of Plastic Surgery journal.

Research and Innovation

Dr. Vasile started a research collaboration in New York City with Weill Cornell radiologists, Dr. Martin Prince and Dr. Tiffany Newman. Dr. Vasile’s research entails using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) to visualize the small blood vessels in the donor site tissue (abdomen, buttock, thigh, and lateral thorax), thus identifying the best vessel on which to do the microsurgical breast reconstruction. Advance knowledge of the best vessel to use can help the surgeon identify suitable patients for perforator flap breast reconstruction and can shorten the operating time. In contrast with other imaging modalities, MRA does not expose patients to radiation. The research has lead to publications in the Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery and radiology journals, and presentations at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and Societies of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance.

Another interest of Dr Vasile’s is in lymph node transfer for the possible improvement in lymphedema (arm swelling after axillary node dissection). The lymph node transfer is done in conjunction with a deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) or superficial inferior epigastric artery (SIEA) flap procedure for breast reconstruction. Dr. Vasile started a research collaboration with Drs. Prince and Newman at Weill Cornell to visualize the lymph flow before and after lymph node transfer and presented the work at the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery meeting.