Neal Handel, MD, FACS, is a native of Los Angeles. He graduated with honors from Columbia University, where he received his bachelor’s degree with a major in Art History. Dr. Handel next attended Yale University, where he received his medical degree in 1973. He then did residency training in General Surgery at UCLA and completed his training in Plastic Surgery at the University of Colorado Medical Center. Following his 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 an active cosmetic surgery practice, performing hundred of cosmetic operations of the 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; he has contributed eight chapters to medical textbooks. 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.
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 was selected in 2006 by C-Magazine as one of the “ten best” plastic surgeons in California. He was named by the Santa Barbara News Press “Readers Choice Poll” as “Best Plastic Surgeon in Santa Barbara” in October 2006. Dr. Handel was listed by Los Angeles Magazine as one of Southern California’s “Super Doctors” in 2008.