Darrick E. Antell, MD, F.A.C.S. is an American plastic and reconstructive surgeon, educator, and researcher. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery and an official spokesperson for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and has served as an assistant clinical professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Antell is known for his research using identical twins to study how environmental factors such as sun exposure, smoking, and stress influence facial aging, published in the journal Annals of Plastic Surgery and later featured in the Smithsonian Institution's exhibition "Genome: Unlocking Life's Code". He was awarded in 2025 as a Fulbright Specialist.
Antell received his B.S. in biology at Hobart College, a D.M.D. at Case Western Reserve University Dental School, and an M.D. at the University of Toledo.
He completed his general surgery training at Stanford University Medical Center and received his specialized training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at New York HospitalâÂÂCornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. From 1989 to 2014 he served as an assistant clinical professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
Antell is a diplomate of the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a spokesperson for the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, and was appointed assistant clinical professor of surgery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2014. In 1999, Antell was featured in a Los Angeles Times report on newer techniques in breast reconstruction for women undergoing mastectomy, describing approaches intended to improve cosmetic outcomes after cancer surgery.
Antell's research has focused on the relative contributions of genetics and environment to facial aging. In a two-year study of identical twins, he photographed pairs of twins and correlated differences in their appearance with lifestyle factors including smoking, sun exposure, alcohol use, stress, diet, and exercise. By studying twins raised together, the work sought to hold genetics constant and isolate the effects of environmental exposures on skin texture, wrinkles, and other visible signs of aging.
The study, published in Annals of Plastic Surgery, received national media coverage, including a CBS News / Associated Press story on how "twins may age differently", which highlighted its implications for the role of nurture in the aging process.
Images from Antell's twin study were later included in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History exhibition "Genome: Unlocking Life's Code", which subsequently toured other museums in the United States.
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Antell has served as a clinical faculty member and guest lecturer at the American University of Antigua College of Medicine, where he established a lecture series on plastic surgery beginning in 2010. He is a founding member and president of the Society of New York Office Based Surgery Facilities, a not-for-profit 501(c)(6) corporation that advocates for accreditation and regulation of office-based surgery facilities in New York State.
In 1997 he established the Dr. Darrick E. Antell '73 Scholarship at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, an endowed fund supporting students interested in medicine and community service, with preference for students from the Cleveland, Ohio, area. He also endowed the Darrick Antell, M.D. Medical Student Family Fund Scholarship at the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, awarded annually to a medical student with parental responsibilities.
In 2000, CBS News reported on his study of identical twins, describing how the research suggested that lifestyle factors such as sun exposure and smoking can influence how twins age differently.
He has been quoted by ABC News and Good Morning America in coverage of trends in cosmetic surgery, including reports on rising numbers of men seeking plastic surgery and on an increase in chin augmentation procedures in the United States. A 2012 Reuters feature on chin implants cited Antell's New York practice in the context of national statistics showing rapid growth in the procedure. He has appeared in television segments such as NBC's Today show and CBS's Early Show, as well as being featured in consumer magazines including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Town & Country.
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