Personal Biography
In 2008, Dr. Garfein founded the In It Together Foundation at Montefiore Medical Center. The Foundation assists disadvantaged patients with daily needs after reconstructive surgery.
In 2010, he authored a new bill requiring hospitals to inform breast cancer patients of breast reconstruction options after mastectomy to reduce the disparities found to exist between low- and high-income patients.
In 2012, Dr. Garfein created a program that delivers current health information via text messages to residents of the Bronx. The “Bronx4Bronx” text messaging program is available in English and Spanish.
Dr. Garfein received his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. He trained in general surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Between his general surgery and plastic surgery training, Dr. Garfein conducted research at Harvard Medical School, concentrating on the role of hematopoietic stem cells in wound healing. Dr. Garfein completed his plastic surgery residency at the Harvard Combined Plastic Surgery Residency Program, serving as chief resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He also completed a microsurgery fellowship at the Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at New York University.