Meet Dr. Elizabeth Kiwanuka M.D., Ph.D. at Core Aesthetics

Kiwanuka is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon practicing in New York. She is Ivy League trained at Harvard Medical School and Brown University and is the founder and medical director of Core Aesthetics New York.

Dr. Kiwanuka provides goal-oriented care with a holistic focus on beauty, fitness, nutrition, and wellness. Her practice approach, Functional Aesthetics, incorporates state-of-the-art skin-tightening and muscle-building technologies to restore your appearance and boost self-confidence.

Education

Dr. Kiwanuka's academic and clinical success is built on her dedication to the field of plastic surgery. Dr. Kiwanuka was born in Russia and raised in Sweden. Parallel with her medical studies, she developed several in vitro models and biochemical techniques at the Tissue Regeneration Laboratory at the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery at Uppsala University Hospital. She expanded her research to include a translational wound healing model and joined the Laboratory of Gene Transfer and Tissue Repair at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Surgical Training

After completing her Ph.D. in wound healing and tissue engineering, she was accepted to the prestigious Plastic Surgery training program at Brown University. Dr. Kiwanuka was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society and received several awards and recognitions during her training. Before starting her practice in New York City, Dr. Kiwanuka completed a fellowship in reconstructive microsurgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, one of the highest-ranked cancer hospitals in the nation. 

Professional Societies

Dr. Kiwanuka has an active leadership role in plastic surgery by sitting on the Legislative Advocacy and Researcher Education Committees of the American Society of Plastic Surgery. She also holds memberships at the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, the American College of Surgeons, the Aesthetic Society, and the Plastic Surgery Research Council.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Kiwanuka has written numerous textbook chapters and has presented her research at dozens of national and international conferences and meetings. Dr. Kiwanuka was awarded the ERASMUS Scholarship in 2017, followed by Boberg's and Törnlund's Scholarships at Uppsala University. In 2010, she received the Wound Healing Society Travel Award in Orlando, FL. Dr. Kiwanuka was honored with a Research Grant from the Sweden-America Foundation in 2012. In 2017, she received the Dean's Excellence In Teaching Award at Brown University as well as the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society award.

 

Featured Articles

1.

The external microenvironment of healing skin wounds.

Kruse CR, Nuutila K, Lee CC, Kiwanuka E, Singh M, Caterson EJ, Eriksson E, Sørensen JA.

Wound Repair Regen. 2015 Jul-Aug;23(4):456-64. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12303. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

PMID: 25857996 Review.

2.

Comparison of healing parameters in porcine full-thickness wounds transplanted with skin micrografts, split-thickness skin grafts, and cultured keratinocytes.

Kiwanuka E, Hackl F, Philip J, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Eriksson E.

J Am Coll Surg. 2011 Dec;213(6):728-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2011.08.020. Epub 2011 Oct 21.

PMID: 22018809

3.

Epidermal regeneration by micrograft transplantation with immediate 100-fold expansion.

Hackl F, Bergmann J, Granter SR, Koyama T, Kiwanuka E, Zuhaili B, Pomahac B, Caterson EJ, Junker JPE, Eriksson E.

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2012 Mar;129(3):443e-452e. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e318241289c.

PMID: 22373992

4.

Harnessing growth factors to influence wound healing.

Kiwanuka E, Junker J, Eriksson E.

Clin Plast Surg. 2012 Jul;39(3):239-48. doi: 10.1016/j.cps.2012.04.003. Epub 2012 May 23.

PMID: 22732373 Review.

5.

Moist dressing coverage supports proliferation and migration of transplanted skin micrografts in full-thickness porcine wounds.

Hackl F, Kiwanuka E, Philip J, Gerner P, Aflaki P, Diaz-Siso JR, Sisk G, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Eriksson E.

Burns. 2014 Mar;40(2):274-80. doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2013.06.002. Epub 2013 Jul 6.

PMID: 23838078

6.

CCN2 is transiently expressed by keratinocytes during re-epithelialization and regulates keratinocyte migration in vitro by the ras-MEK-ERK signaling pathway.

Kiwanuka E, Hackl F, Caterson EJ, Nowinski D, Junker JP, Gerdin B, Eriksson E.

J Surg Res. 2013 Dec;185(2):e109-19. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2013.05.065. Epub 2013 Jun 10.

PMID: 24079812

7.

Assessing quality of healing in skin: review of available methods and devices.

Junker JP, Philip J, Kiwanuka E, Hackl F, Caterson EJ, Eriksson E.

Wound Repair Regen. 2014 May;22 Suppl 1:2-10. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12162.

PMID: 24813357 Review.

8.

Cdc42 and p190RhoGAP activation by CCN2 regulates cell spreading and polarity and induces actin disassembly in migrating keratinocytes.

Kiwanuka E, Lee CC, Hackl F, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Gerdin B, Eriksson E.

Int Wound J. 2016 Jun;13(3):372-81. doi: 10.1111/iwj.12315. Epub 2014 Sep 3.

PMID: 25185742 Free PMC article.

9.

Sustained release of amnion-derived cellular cytokine solution facilitates achilles tendon healing in rats.

Kueckelhaus M, Philip J, Kamel RA, Canseco JA, Hackl F, Kiwanuka E, Kim MJ, Wilkie R, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Eriksson E.

Eplasty. 2014 Aug 4;14:e29. eCollection 2014.

PMID: 25210571 Free PMC article.

10.

Topical delivery of ultrahigh concentrations of gentamicin is highly effective in reducing bacterial levels in infected porcine full-thickness wounds.

Junker JPE, Lee CCY, Samaan S, Hackl F, Kiwanuka E, Minasian RA, Tsai DM, Tracy LE, Onderdonk AB, Eriksson E, Caterson EJ.

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2015 Jan;135(1):151-159. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000000801.

PMID: 25539303

11.

Full-thickness porcine burns infected with Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be effectively treated with topical antibiotics.

Tsai DM, Tracy LE, Lee CC, Hackl F, Kiwanuka E, Minasian RA, Onderdonk A, Junker JP, Eriksson E, Caterson EJ.

Wound Repair Regen. 2016 Mar;24(2):356-65. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12409. Epub 2016 Mar 31.

PMID: 26800421

12.

Topical Minocycline Effectively Decontaminates and Reduces Inflammation in Infected Porcine Wounds.

Daly LT, Tsai DM, Singh M, Nuutila K, Minasian RA, Lee CCY, Kiwanuka E, Hackl F, Onderdonk AB, Junker JPE, Eriksson E, Caterson EJ.

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016 Nov;138(5):856e-868e. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000002633.

PMID: 27782997

13.

Transforming growth factor β1 regulates the expression of CCN2 in human keratinocytes via Smad-ERK signalling.

Kiwanuka E, Junker JP, Eriksson E.

Int Wound J. 2017 Dec;14(6):1006-1018. doi: 10.1111/iwj.12749. Epub 2017 Mar 29.

PMID: 28371159 Free PMC article.

14.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Trauma Patients With Isolated Facial Fractures.

McCarty JC, Kiwanuka E, Gadkaree S, Siu JM, Caterson EJ.

J Craniofac Surg. 2020 Jul-Aug;31(5):1182-1185. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000006379.

PMID: 32282477

15.

Anticoagulants and Statins As Pharmacological Agents in Free Flap Surgery: Current Rationale.

Pršić A, Kiwanuka E, Caterson SA, Caterson EJ.

Eplasty. 2015 Nov 20;15:e51. eCollection 2015.

PMID: 26617953 Free PMC article. Review.

16.

Inhibition of connective tissue growth factor/CCN2 expression in human dermal fibroblasts by interleukin-1alpha and beta.

Nowinski D, Koskela A, Kiwanuka E, Boström M, Gerdin B, Ivarsson M.

J Cell Biochem. 2010 Aug 1;110(5):1226-33. doi: 10.1002/jcb.22637.

PMID: 20544797

17.

Use of high-frequency ultrasound guidance for intraoperative zygomatic arch fracture reduction.

Kiwanuka E, Smith SE, Frates MC, Caterson EJ.

J Craniofac Surg. 2013 Nov;24(6):2036-8. doi: 10.1097/SCS.0b013e3182a21038.

PMID: 24220399

18.

CCN2 promotes keratinocyte adhesion and migration via integrin α5β1.

Kiwanuka E, Andersson L, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Gerdin B, Eriksson E.

Exp Cell Res. 2013 Nov 15;319(19):2938-46. doi: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2013.08.021. Epub 2013 Aug 26.

PMID: 23988606

19.

Online Patient Resources for Gender Affirmation Surgery: An Analysis of Readability.

Kiwanuka E, Mehrzad R, Prsic A, Kwan D.

Ann Plast Surg. 2017 Oct;79(4):329-333. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000001159.

PMID: 28858881

20.

The Use of a Magnetic Port Finder in the Retrieval of Air Rifle BBs to the Upper Extremity.

Kiwanuka E, Hsieh S, Roussel LO, Jehle CC, Mehrzad R, Schmidt S.

J Hand Surg Am. 2018 Nov;43(11):1043.e1-1043.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2018.02.037. Epub 2018 Apr 3.

PMID: 29622408

21.

The use of Synthes MatrixWAVE bone anchored arch bars for closed treatment of multiple concurrent mandibular fractures.

Kiwanuka E, Iyengar R, Jehle CC, Mehrzad R, Kwan D.

J Oral Biol Craniofac Res. 2017 Sep-Dec;7(3):153-157. doi: 10.1016/j.jobcr.2017.08.006. Epub 2017 Sep 1.

PMID: 29123991 Free PMC article.

22.

Online patient resources for deceased donor and live donor kidney recipients: a comparative analysis of readability.

Zhou EP, Kiwanuka E, Morrissey PE.

Clin Kidney J. 2018 Aug;11(4):559-563. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfx129. Epub 2017 Nov 24.

PMID: 30094021 Free PMC article.

23.

Amnion-derived multipotent progenitor cells improve achilles tendon repair in rats.

Philip J, Hackl F, Canseco JA, Kamel RA, Kiwanuka E, Diaz-Siso JR, Caterson EJ, Junker JP, Eriksson E.

Eplasty. 2013 Jun 19;13:e31. Print 2013.

PMID: 23814634 Free PMC article.

24.

Diagnosis and Management of Dermatofibrosarcoma Protuberans in a 3-Year-Old Patient.

Iyengar R, Kiwanuka E, Mangray S, Cruz AP, Katarincic J, Bhatt R.

J Hand Surg Am. 2017 Sep;42(9):756.e1-756.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.jhsa.2017.04.009. Epub 2017 May 24.

PMID: 28549894

25.

Reconstruction of Through-and-Through Mandibular Defects with the Fibula Osteocutaneous and Lower Lateral Leg Perforator Free Flaps.

Shahzad F, Kiwanuka E, Marano A, Boyle J, Matros E.

Plast Reconstr Surg. 2022 Jan 1;149(1):157e-158e. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000008620.

PMID: 34846353 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

26.

The Economic Impact of Flexor Tendon Lacerations of the Hand in the United States.

Mehrzad R, Mookerjee V, Schmidt S, Jehle CC, Kiwanuka E, Liu PY.

Ann Plast Surg. 2019 Oct;83(4):419-423. doi: 10.1097/SAP.0000000000001950.

PMID: 31524735