Dino Ravnic, DO, MPH, MSc, FACS, will join Stony Brook Medicine's Department of Surgery in September 2026 as the new Chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Vice Chair for Research and Professor of Surgery in the Renaissance School of Medicine. Dr. Ravnic, a Queens, New York native, joins Stony Brook Medicine after 13 years at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) College of Medicine in Hershey, PA where he serves as a tenured Professor of Surgery (since 2024), Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery, and the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Medicine and Surgical Sciences (Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences). He also serves as Co-Director of the Center for Regenerative Engineering and Translational Ecosystem (CREATE), Director of the Irvin S. Zubar Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory and Director of Microsurgery/Lymphedema. He also developed the multidisciplinary lymphedema program at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.
“It is my privilege to join Stony Brook’s exceptional surgical faculty," said Dr. Ravnic. "I am eager to contribute to the department's growth, driving academic and clinical excellence while expanding our footprint in innovative research that addresses the most complex challenges in surgery today."
Dr. Ravnic, an academic surgeon-scientist, received a BS degree in Human Biology from SUNY Albany (1995) and his DO from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in Westbury, NY (2001). He earned an MPH from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences (2007), and an MSc in the study of stem cells and regeneration from the University of Bristol Medical School in Bristol, United Kingdom (2019). He is currently pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Penn State College of Engineering in State College, PA.
“It is my privilege to join Stony Brook’s exceptional surgical faculty." -- Dr. Dino Ravnic
He completed a General Surgery residency at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center in 2009 and a Plastic Surgery residency at Indiana University in Indianapolis in 2011. These were complemented by a Reconstructive Microsurgery fellowship with the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York (2012), and research fellowships in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School (Boston) and at the Johannes Gutenberg Universitat, Anatomisches Institut Makroskopie (Mainz, Germany).
Dr. Ravnic specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery with a passion for oncologic reconstruction. His related research interests include:
- Tissue Engineering and Vascularization
- Microvascular Biology
- Stem Cells
- Bioprinting
- Biomaterials
- Experimental Surgery
At Penn State, he has built on his research interests by restarting its Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory in 2016, which he has grown to 10 full-time staff and a multimillion-dollar budget, and in co-developing CREATE, with the goal of translating Penn State's biomedical research programs with clinical outlets. Dr. Ravnic's research, which focuses on tissue engineering with specific efforts geared towards the vascularization of implanted biomaterials, has received extensive National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, and he holds three highly prestigious multi-PI NIH R01s (Research Project Grants). He has served on three different NIH study sections and is a permanent member of the Surgery, Anesthesiology and Trauma (SAT) section.
"I am eager to contribute to the department's growth, driving academic and clinical excellence while expanding our footprint in innovative research that addresses the most complex challenges in surgery today." -- Dr. Ravnic
Professional activities for Dr. Ravnic include:
- Associate Editor for the Journal of Surgical Research, Frontiers in Transplantation, Gels and Biomolecules
- Ad hoc reviewer for approximately thirty medical and scientific journals
- Mentoring more than 30 research students
- Authoring more than 65 peer-reviewed articles
- Creating more than 100 oral presentations/posters
He is a member of multiple professional organizations and committees including:
- American College of Surgeons
- American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery
- Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons
- American Association of Plastic Surgeons
- Association for Academic Surgery
- Society of University Surgeons
- Surgical Biology Club
Dr. Ravnic is board-certified by the American Board of Surgery, American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Osteopathic Board of Surgery (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery). His professional honors and awards include being a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), receiving the American Association of Plastic Surgeons Hoopes Academic Scholar Award, and being recognized with the Faculty Leader/Mentor in Surgery Award at Penn State. In addition, he is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Stony Brook Medicine Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
- Stony Brook Medicine Department of Surgery