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By Contributor
PRODUCED BY KEMMIE RYAN
EDITED BY LEA GUCCIONE
PHOTOGRAPHY BY IAN MCLEOD, MONICA KASS ROGERS, ROBIN SUBAR, & KATRINA WITTKAMP
STYLING BY THERESA DEMARIA
HAIR & MAKEUP BY LEANNA ERNEST AND MEG KOMLENAC
PRODUCTION & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: CHEYANNE LENCIONI
SPECIALTY: Plastic Surgery
EDUCATION:
Dr. Michael A. Howard: B.A., cum laude, Illinois Wesleyan University; M.D., Emory University School of Medicine; Plastic Surgery residency, Georgetown University; Microsurgery/Breast Surgery fellowship, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Sylvia Wier, FNP: BSN, Loyola University; MSN, Simmons University School of Nursing
AWARDS/HONORS/DISTINCTIONS:
Dr. Howard: Castle Connolly Top Doctors (2018); American Association of Plastic Surgeons (since 2017); Martin R. Sullivan Teaching Award (2007); Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgery, Outstanding Paper, Resident/Fellow Competition (2005); Medical Director Plastic Surgery, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital (2021)
Dr. Michael A. Howard has built a team, including certified nurse practitioner Sylvia Wier, FNP, centered around the care of women with, or at a high risk of developing, breast cancer. Together, the clinical team focuses on aesthetic and reconstructive breast and body procedures after cancer or other trauma. “Our practice is unique. We provide highly specialized, individualized care in the Northwestern Medicine setting, allowing us to marry the clinical, educational, and academic aspects of better care,” explains Dr. Howard. In his practice, Dr. Howard provides leading-edge care in the field, including autologous, or natural, reconstructive surgical procedures. These techniques can produce more natural and higher quality of life results than other techniques.
Wier approaches her patients from an advanced practice nursing perspective to care for them as a whole. In particular, Wier is compassionately mindful of the aesthetic impacts that cancer treatments may have, and offers supportive aesthetic services though the patient’s reconstructive journey. She worked for nearly a decade as an organ transplantation and oncology nurse before transitioning to plastic surgery nursing. Through her own personal experience with breast cancer and reconstruction, she gained the unique perspective and understanding of what her patients are going through. She has a particular interest in the intersection of oncology and aesthetics, believing that one should feel good in their own skin.
Based on Dr. Howard’s family experience, and Wier’s personal journey through breast cancer, both individuals have a particular devotion to the care of women facing breast cancer, and those at high risk for developing breast cancer. “That experience gives me an unrelenting motivation to build a nationally recognized microsurgical breast reconstruction and aesthetic breast surgery practice here at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital—one that draws patients from across the Midwest seeking specialized care in these fields,” says Dr. Howard.
Dr. Michael A. Howard and Sylvia Wier, FNP, are with Northwestern Medicine Plastic Surgery, located at 1000 N. Westmoreland Road in Lake Forest, 224-271-4250, nm.org/doctors/1366542789/michael-a-howard-md.
