Born and raised in Miami, FL, the son of Cuban immigrants, Dr. Rodriguez attended Belen Jesuit High School where he serves as an extremely active alumni mentoring students and giving back to the community.  He subsequently earned his Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology from the University of Florida in 1988, followed by a DDS degree from New York University in 1992. He completed his residency in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1997. He then went on to earn his medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia in 1999 and completed general surgery training at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2001, which was followed by a combined plastic surgery program at Johns Hopkins Hospital/University of Maryland Medical Center in 2003. He also completed an International Reconstructive Microsurgery Fellowship at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan in 2004.

Eduardo D. Rodriguez, MD, DDS, joined the faculty of NYU Langone Health in November 2013 as the Helen L. Kimmel Professor of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and chair of the Hansjӧrg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery. He is dually-certified by the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery.

Dr. Rodriguez leads NYU Langone’s vascular composite allotransplantation (VCA) program, which encompasses face and limb transplantation. Two face transplants have been performed at NYU Langone since the program was established in 2014 and have been widely recognized for their superior outcomes. The success of these procedures has not only enhanced the quality of life for his patients, but will advance the field for future patients.

In August 2020, Dr. Rodriguez performed the world’s first successful face and double hand transplant on a 22-year-old New Jersey resident who had been severely burned in a horrific car crash. The surgery included transplanting both hands and the full face of a single donor. This is the fourth face transplant performed under the leadership of Dr. Rodriguez, and the first hand transplant under his direction.

NYU Langone’s VCA Program also has established a novel patient-specific, donor-patient matching protocol and an antirejection medication regimen to lessen drug toxicity without increasing risk of transplant rejection. Additionally, Dr. Rodriguez and his team continue to plan for future transplant procedures and grow the program’s clinical, research and education efforts. Clinical advancement focuses on patient selection and achievement of optimal aesthetic and functional results, while education efforts concentrate on training surgeons and advancing the field of VCA.