Dr. Mario G. Solari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plastic Surgery. He is board certified in Plastic Surgery and performs reconstructive surgery including head and neck, chest, abdominal wall, and extremities following trauma or cancer surgery. He specializes in microvascular reconstructive surgery of the head and neck and reconstruction after craniofacial trauma.
Dr. Solari performed his undergraduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and earned his medical degree from Tufts University in Boston. He completed his plastic surgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh. He took time away from clinical duty during residency to pursue a two-year extramural NIH fellowship (NRSA) studying the immunology of vascularized composite tissue allotransplantation (such as hand and facial tissue transplantation). After graduating from plastic surgery residency, he completed a reconstructive microsurgery fellowship at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Basic and Translational Science Research Interests
Dr. Solari is the Director of the Microvascular Reconstruction Research Laboratory and Faculty of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. His laboratory has won multiple awards at regional and national society meetings, and he is an investigator on multiple grants including major grants from the Department of Defense. He has received the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation Basic Science Research Fellowship as well as the American Association of Plastic Surgeons/Plastic Surgery Foundation Academic Scholarship Award. He serves as an Editorial Board member for Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports and Frontiers Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery, and he reviews for multiple scientific journals. His research goals include elucidating the immunobiology of VCA and developing strategies that limit systemic immunosuppression, prevent acute and chronic rejection, promote allograft longevity, and maximize functional outcome. He also engages in research to engineer vascularized scaffolds for complex wound reconstruction.
Clinical Research Interests
Dr. Solari’s clinical research interests focus on improving clinical outcomes after microvascular reconstruction and integrating new technologies into clinical practice. He uses virtual surgical planning with computer modeling, 3D printing, and patient-specific guides and plates for craniofacial reconstruction in his clinical practice. He engages in research to advance these technologies to improve outcomes.