About Us

At Premier Aesthetics, our team is led by our medical director and board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Leo Urbinelli, MD, MA, FAAP, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Syracuse, NY. He and his team are dedicated to providing the best patient experience while achieving your aesthetic/reconstructive goals. We specialize in a wide range of plastic surgical and non-surgical procedures and treatments to ensure each patient receives personalized attention and outstanding care.

Dr. Urbinelli is passionate about providing top-notch care for adults and children who require facial, breast, or body reconstructive procedures, and he has dedicated his career to cosmetic and functional enhancements for patients for over 15 years. This extensive clinical experience is beyond his long journey of formal training and study in his college days and beyond.

As a native of Upstate, NY, Dr. Urbinelli first fueled his scientific curiosity and developed his love of health and human performance in his undergraduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY where he completed his BS in Nutritional Sciences with an Exercise Science Minor.  He did so while also competing at the highest level as a NCAA Div-1 athlete on the Cornell wrestling team, serving as a team captain and 2x NCAA National Qualifier.

After college, Dr. Urbinelli continued his fascination with biomechanics and human performance and thus chose to pursue clinical and laboratory research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA as a clinical research coordinator and lab technician in order to investigate therapies that could be tested in patients in the hopes of improving survival and strength outcomes.  While in Boston, he continued his academic interests, completing his Master’s degree in Medical Sciences at Boston University School of Medicine.  

With the helpful guidance of fantastic mentors who encouraged Dr. Urbinell’s pursuit of a career in patient-centered care, he then chose to return to Upstate, NY to pursue his medical degree at SUNY Upstate Medical University.  As a medical student he continuted to be captivated by the beauty of the human body and it’s many functions.  He was mesmerized by human anatomy and physiology (the way things worked) and pathophysiology (the way things went awry).  He felt the strong draw towards a career. in surgery.  He enjoyed the patient interactions, the long-term follow-up, the complex reconstructions, the intricate detailed microscopic repairs of nerves and vessels and the utility and practicality of bony fixation.  This led him to his passion and calling as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.

He would complete his 6-year combined General Surgery-Plastic Surgery Residency at the world-renown NYU IRPS (Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery) in NYC (often regarded as the #1 plastic surgery Residency in he US).  While at NYU he was fortunate to learn under icons and giants such as Drs. Joseph McCarthy (pioneer in Craniofacial Surgery), Eduardo Rodriguez (pioneer in facial transplantation – marrying microsurgery with craniofacial surgery), Court Cutting, Charles Thorne, Robert Allen Sr, David Chiu, Jamie Levine, Nolan Karp and many other mentors whom he feels indebted to.  He gained advanced exposure and guided independence in aesthetic and reconstructive surgery at Manhattan, Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital (MEETH, the largest cosmetic surgery center in the US) and Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center (one of the US’s largest major cancer centers) where he trained under Drs. Sherell Ashton, Daniel Baker, Nicholas Tabbal, Doug Steinbrech, Babak Mehrara, Joseph Disa, Peter Cordiero, Andrea Pusic, Evan Matros and others.

After completing this  comprehensive Plastic Surgery Residency at NYU and Bellevue Hospital (the nation’s oldest hospital in the largest city in the US providing coverage for all of NYC and the tri-state area) Dr. Urbinelli felt prepared and ready.  However, he wished to pursue additional sub-specialization  by pursuing a 1 year Fellowship in Craniofacial and Pediatric Plastic Surgery at USC Keck School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA, the largest Craniofacial Unit in N. America at the time) to gain even greater knowledge and experience.  At USC, under the guidance of Dr. Mark Urata, Chief of Plastic Surgery and Oral Surgery at USC and CHLA he gained greater expertise in treating the most complex facial, skull, jaw, nasal and soft tissue issues in adults and children helping to tie together his many years of skills/training in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery. 

After this phenomenal training, he was recruited to Portland, OR join the Faculty at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) as Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery and as Chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Medical Director of the Cleft and Craniofacial Unit at OHSU’s Doernbecher Childrens Hospital where he led this Unit to award-winning outcomes and grew the program’s volume year after year.  After 5 years leading this Unit, Dr. Urbinelli chose to pursue a new path as Founder and Medical Director of PNW Plastic Surgery in Portland, OR.

After successfully growing this practice in both volume and reputation over 2 years, he encountered a difficult family health crisis and he and his wife (a native of Central NY) and children made the difficult but fulfilling decision to be closer to family in Syracuse, NY.  While he dearly misses his patients, colleagues, and friends back in Oregon, he now gets to spend much more quality time with family and friends here on the East Coast – which is priceless.

His return back to Syracuse, NY has been a welcome and wonderful one. He has enjoyed building a local, regional and national reputation in Syracuse, NY by providing exceptional world-class care and personalized attention to the patients he serves.  

Dr. Urbinelli’s diverse experience, and his unique collection of skills and knowledge, have allowed him to offer cutting-edge, advanced approaches in plastic surgery delivering natural aesthetic results to Upstate, NY, not previously available.  As a leading plastic surgeon in Syracuse, NY and beyond, his focus on individualized care and a refusal to adhere to a “one size fits all” approach for his patients allows bespoke plastic surgery catered to the goals of each individual patient.

For patients seeking the most individualized and  comprehensive approach to achieving their aesthetic and functional goals while restoring their natural beauty and confidence, look no further.

Come visit us and see for yourself our commitment to exceptional care and consistently excellent results.