Philanthropy

Dr. Panossian frequently participates in medical missions, offering reconstructive surgery for children and adults affected by geographic isolation, bad economy, natural disasters, devastating trauma and birth defects. He has traveled all over the world offering his expertise, from places as remote as the Amazon basin and the war-torn countryside of Sierra Leone, West Africa to the inner cities here in the United States.

He currently sits on the Board of Directors for Mending Kids, a non-profit organization that provides free surgery to children from all over the world and here at home. International missions are arranged along with Hometown Missions to address the needs of children in the United States but without access to health care.

Dr. Panossian is also on the Board of Directors for the Gondobay Manga Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the improvement of lives of the people in Sierra Leone. Target issues include increasing access to education, clean water and improving healthcare. Volunteer opportunities are available for those interested.

Dr. Panossian is also currently on staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children in Pasadena, California. One of the most impactful organizations in the world, the Shriners name is synonymous with philanthropic medical work and outreach. Their mission statement has stayed true over many decades in providing surgical services for children with burns, birth deformities, cleft lip and palate, and other problems requiring reconstructive surgery.

Dr. Panossian also volunteers his time frequently with Operation Smile, whose mission is to provide free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities for children around the globe. His participation has taken him to Vietnam, China and other distant locales. He and his wife, Jill, have served on the Host Committee for the annual fundraising gala and continue to support the organization’s efforts to deliver life-altering surgery to children around the world.

One of Dr. Panossian’s international outreach efforts took him to the earthquake-ravaged country of Haiti. Through Project Medishare, he was able to offer relief to trauma victims with such devastating injuries as amputations, burns, complicated wounds and head and limb trauma. The resilient people of Haiti continue to feel the repercussions of the earthquake that changed their lives in 2010. Dr. Panossian continues to return to the island country to treat patients and teach the next generation of Haitian doctors.

In 2015, Dr. Panossian and a team of pediatric surgeons traveled to Haiti to perform the country’s first conjointed twin separation. Thanks to Partners in Health who organized and provided the facilities for this historic event, the surgery was a smashing success and an international display of goodwill.

Dr. Panossian also joins the Medical Advisory panel of the Children of War Foundation. This organization’s mission statement is to provide free reconstructive surgery and post-operative care to any child living with a physical deformity or injury that cannot be treated in their home country. He traveled to Amman, Jordan in June 2013 to provide highly specialized reconstruction for children with facial paralysis, complex vascular malformations, and hand deformities. Partnering with local doctors is a key strategy of the organization in perpetuating valuable medical knowledge throughout the world.