Pat Pazmiño, MD, FACS

Dr. Pazmiño is a board-certified plastic surgeon in private practice in Miami, Florida, for over 20 years. His clinical focus is on body contouring, breast surgery, and minimally invasive aesthetic procedures. A recognized leader in patient safety, Dr. Pazmiño's epidemiologic research on fat grafting procedures described the critical dangers of Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) procedures and was awarded the Aesthetic Surgery Journal’s Best Domestic Paper for 2023. Building on this, his cadaver research mapped previously undescribed subcutaneous gluteal anatomy, forming the anatomic basis for his subsequent clinical paper detailing a BBL fat grafting technique that uses high-resolution ultrasound during surgery to visualize and precisely manipulate the anatomy, resulting in consistently safe outcomes in over 4,200 patients. The Florida legislature used this research as the foundation for a patient safety law passed in 2023 that mandates that all BBL’s performed in Florida must be done with ultrasound guidance. This has protected patients, elevated the standard of care, and dramatically reduced the mortality rate in Florida. For these efforts, Dr. Pazmiño was awarded the Tiffany Award by the Aesthetic Society and the Patient Safety Award by the Aesthetic Foundation. Dr. Pazmiño continues his epidemiologic work in patient safety, his cadaver and anatomic research in the subcutaneous compartments and muscles, his use of artificial intelligence in the OR, and his legislative advocacy to protect patients, gain a better understanding of our anatomy, develop new surgeries, and help push our specialty forward.