About Dr. Chandler

Top Surgery Specialist in Fairfield County

Dr. Chandler is a Board-Certified, Harvard fellowship trained Plastic Surgeon and Top Surgery Specialist, who completed specialty training in gender reassignment surgery with experts in the field. She specializes in gender affirming top surgery, body contouring for body masculinization and feminization and surgical and nonsurgical facial aesthetics.

Dr. Chandler believes every patient is unique, and tailors her approach to each individual patient. There are many different choices available regarding incision shape and nipple shape, size and placement. She believes it is important for patients to feel informed about their surgical options as well as their comprehensive pre-and post-surgical care including long-term scar care to provide long-lasting and optimal results.

Dr. Chandler has extensive training with experts in the field of gender affirmation surgery. She began her career in medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington, Vermont, where she spent four years earning her MD degree. She then completed a six-year residency program in Plastic Surgery at Rutgers–New Jersey Medical School, where she trained with Dr. Jonathan Keith and helped form the Rutgers Center for Transgender Health in 2012, the first multidisciplinary center dedicated to gender affirming care in New Jersey. She went on to complete a fellowship in Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center–Harvard Medical School, which included a dedicated program focused on top surgery. Here she studied under Dr. Adam Tobias and Dr. Richard Bartlett, both well-known top surgery specialists in Boston, Massachusetts. She has dedicated a significant portion of her time in both residency and fellowship to mastering the aesthetic nuances of top surgery. She has also lectured internationally on the aesthetics of top surgery techniques at Plastic Surgery at the Red Sea in 2019.

With years of experience performing top surgery, Dr. Chandler is familiar with wide range of top surgery procedures and techniques. FTM/N techniques include the double incision, periareolar, keyhole, buttonhole, inframammary, inverted-T and fishmouth procedures. MTF techniques include both subglandular and submuscular planes, saline and silicone implants, and various mastopexy techniques to reduce a widened or puffy areola and/or to lift the nipple areola complex.

All About Dr. Chandler

Philosophy

Dr. Chandler believes in the informed consent model regarding patient readiness for surgery. It is every patient’s right to feel comfortable in their own body. We recognize that gender identity is a spectrum with many shades of grey between binary male and binary female. Read more about our philosophy here.
Dr. Chandler’s Credentials

Dr. Chandler is a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon with specialized fellowship training in top surgery. She is an active member of the WPATH (World Professional Association of Transgender Health) and the ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons). She started the Top Surgery Center of Connecticut to create a dedicated program specializing in comprehensive top surgery care. Meet the rest of the team here.
Licensure

Connecticut Medical License
New York State Medical License
Massachusetts Medical License

Honors and Awards
- ASERF Resident Travel Scholarship, American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery – April 27, 2017
- Best Clinical Poster, New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting – April 5, 2014
- Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons Poster Award, 30th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons – September 22, 2013
- Best Research Poster, New Jersey Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting – April 27, 2013
- The Pilcher Award for representing the qualities of Eleanor and Lewis Pilcher of devotion to family and patients, with a high regard for ethics and honesty, University of Vermont College of Medicine – May 20, 2012
Peer Reviewed Publications
- Halsey JN, Chandler LK, Wey PD, Nini KT.Delay Techniques for Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: A Retrospective Review of Outcomes in 47 Patients. Annals of Breast Surgery. March 2021. Cuccolo NG, Cauly RP, Sieber B, Hussain S, Chandler L, Ibrahim A, Lin SJ. Temporoparietal Fascia Free Flap for a Large Nasal Septal Perforation. Journal of Reconstructive Microsurgery. November 2019.
- Xue, EY, Chandler LK, Viviano S, Keith JD. Use of FLIR ONE Smartphone Thermography in Burn Wound Assessment. Annals of Plastic Surgery. April 20 18.
- Halsey JN, Chandler LK, Wey PD, Nini KT. Delay Techniques for Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: A Retrospective Review of Outcomes in 47 Patients. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open. October 2017.
- Viviano SV, Chandler LK, Keith JD. Ultrahigh Frequency Ultrasound Imaging of the Hand: A New Diagnostic Tool for Hand Surgery. Journal of Hand Surgery. Sep 2017.
- Karian LS, Therattil PJ, Wey PD, Nini KT. Delay Techniques for Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: A Systematic Review. Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. 70 (2): 236-242, Nov 2016.
- Karian LS, Datiashvili RO. Combination of Glabellar and V-Y Cheek Advancement Flaps for Large Medial Canthal Skin Defects. Journal of Surgery: Open Access. July 2016.
- Zwiebel S, Curcio C, Karian L, Maerki J, Datiashvili RO. A Solitary Neurofibroma of the Thumb: Literature Review and Case Report. Journal of Surgery: Open Access. July 2016.
- Karian LS, Chung S, Lee ES. Reconstruction of Defects after Fournier’s Gangrene: A Systematic Review. Eplasty. May 2015.
- Dorafshar, AH, Franczyk M, Karian L, Gottlieb LJ, Kasza K, Lohman RF. A Prospective Randomized Trial Comparing Subatmospheric Wound Therapy with a Sealed Gauze Dressing and the Standard Vacuum Assisted Closure Device: A Supplementary Sub-Group Analysis. Wounds. May 2013.
- Karian L, Granick M. Sternal Wound Reconstruction with Omental Flap for Post-sternotomy Mediastinitis. Eplasty. Feb 2013.
- Karian LS, Phillips BZ, Morrison CS, Klinge PM, Sullivan SR and Taylor HOB. Advancements in Technology for Minimizing Complications Related to Le Fort III Osteotomies. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. July 2012.
Oral Presentations

Chandler LK. Surgical and Nonsurgical Facial Rejuvenation: Management of Facial Aging. St.Vincent’s Lecture Series. The Watermark, 3030 Park Street, Bridgeport, CT. February 28, 2020.

Chandler LK. Fundamentals of Scar Care and Wound Healing. St. Vincent’s Lecture Series. The Watermark, 3030 Park Street, Bridgeport, CT. December 11, 2019.

Chandler LK. Wound Healing and Scar Care. Norwalk Hospital OB-GYN Grand Rounds. Norwalk, CT. November 12, 2019.

Chandler LK. Essentials of Skin Care. St. Vincent’s Lecture Series. The Watermark, 3030 Park Street, Bridgeport, CT. October 25, 2019.

Chandler LK. Body Contouring after Bariatric Surgery. Norwalk Hospital Surgery Grand Rounds. Norwalk, CT. October 23, 2019.

Chandler LK. Surgical and Nonsurgical Facial Rejuvenation. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Plastic Surgery Grand Rounds. Boston, MA. June 2019.

Chandler LK, Lin SJ, Slavin S, Miller LB. Improving Results of the Surgical Facelift with Microneedling and Nanofat Grafting. The Aesthetic Meeting 2019. New Orleans, LA. May 16, 2019.

Chandler LK. Plastic Surgery at the Red Sea. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Plastic Surgery Grand Rounds. Boston, MA. March 2019.

Cuccolo NG, Cauley RP, Sieber B, Lee BT, Chandler LK, Ibrahim AM, Lin SJ. Temporoparietal Fascia Free Flap for a Large Nasal Septal Perforation. Mountain West Society of Plastic Surgeons Annual Meeting. Olympic Valley, CA. March 10, 2019.

Chandler LK. Aesthetics of Gender Affirmation Top Surgery. Plastic Surgery at the Red Sea. Eilat, Israel. March 7, 2019.

Chandler LK. Internet Marketing for the Plastic Surgeon. Plastic Surgery at the Red Sea. Eilat, Israel. March 8, 2019.

Chandler LK. Cases in Facial Aesthetics. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Plastic Surgery Grand Rounds. Boston, MA. August 2018.

Karian LS, Halsey JN, Wey PD, Nini KT. Delay Techniques for Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy, a Retrospective Review of Outcomes in 47 Patients. American Society of Plastic Surgeons’ Annual Meeting. Orlando, FL. October 7, 2017.

Xue, EY, Karian LS,Keith JD. Use of FLIR ONE Smartphone Thermography in Burn Wound Assessment. 34th Annual Meeting of the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons. Newport, RI. September 8, 2017.

Karian LS. Anatomy of the Neck Lift. Saint Barnabas Department of Plastic and ReconstructiveSurgery Lower Face and Neck Lift Live Surgery Symposium. Livingston, NJ. September 7, 2017.

Reisler, T, Keith JK, Karian LS, Chung S. Mechanically assisted delayed primary closure following tumor ablative surgery. Barcelona Breast Meeting. Barcelona, Spain. March 11-13, 2015.

Devaulapalli C, Jia Wei AT, Cooney C, Baez M, Mohon R, Dibiagio J, Baltodano P, Seal S, Karian L, Sacks J, Manahan M, Rosson G. Surgical Site Complications After Primary Versus Flap Closure of Pelvic Defects Following Abdominoperineal Resection (APR) or Pelvic Exenteration (PE): A Systematic Review and Meta Analysis. American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. Paradise Island, Bahamas. January 25, 2015.

Chung S, Karian LS, Lee ES. Timing of Reconstruction of Defects after Fournier’s Gangrene: A Systematic Review. National Conference on Wound Healing. Palais de Congrès in Paris. Paris, France. January 18-20, 2015.

Lacayo MJ, Karian LS, Ogbuagu O, Sacks JM, Manahan MA, Seal S, Rosson GD. Immediate Flap Reconstruction of the Perineum after Pelvic Exenteration or Abdominoperineal Resection: A
Systematic Review. American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery. Naples, FL. January 12-15, 2013.

Karian LS, Manahan MA, Ohkuma R, Rad AN, Mithani SK, Rosson GD. Vertical Deep Inferior Perforator and Muscle-Sparing Vertical Rectus Abdominis Myocutaneous Flap Reconstruction
for Pelvic Exenteration Defects. Plastic Surgery Research Council 57th Annual Meeting. Ann Arbor, Michigan. June 14-17, 2012.

Karian LS, Phillips BZ, Morrison CS, Klinge PM, Sullivan SR and Taylor HOB. Advancements in Technology for Minimizing Complications Related to Le Fort III Osteotomies. New England Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, Inc. 53rd Annual Meeting. Woodstock, Vermont. June 1-3, 2012.

Karian LS, Osler TM, Goetschius SK and Leitner DW. Braden Scale and Clinical Documentation in Predicting Risk for Pressure Ulcer Never Events. University of Vermont College of Medicine Annual Senior Major Research Seminar. Burlington, Vermont. May 2012.

Karian L, Huang D, Ares W, Hart M, Michael M, Otts A, LaFramboise-Perretta D, Jemison J, Carney J. Assessing Barriers to Utilization of Adult Day Care Centers in a Rural County. American Public Health Association 138th Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado. November 6-10, 2010.

Karian L, Wall D. Utilization of Phylogenetic Profiles in Predicting Protein Function. Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology Summer Program Conference. Boston,
Massachusetts. August 4, 2006.