How fine art is informing and inspiring tomorrow's surgeons: Morgan Yacoe & Dr. Jennifer Rhodes

Jennifer Rhodes, a pediatric and craniofacial plastic surgeon, is passionate about improving the lives of children with birth defects. Through creative collaboration, she and sculptor Morgan Yacoe have developed new approaches to medical sculpture and surgical simulation and have pioneered an innovative art-based educational program for surgeons-in-training.

Born in Florida, Jennifer studied at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and spent two years with the Peace Corps in Africa working on a campaign to eradicate Dracunculiasis. Her work has been featured in Science Matters, the Richmond Times Dispatch, and CBS News, and she has been recognized as a top doctor in the Richmond region by both Our Health and Richmond Magazine.

Born in Georgia and raised in New Jersey and Northern Virginia, sculptor Morgan Yacoe graduated from VCU’s sculpture department in 2011 with an additional minor in chemistry and went on to complete a program of study in premedical science. Today, Morgan creates life-like surgical simulation models to help doctors and medical students develop their skills. Her medical models, and the theory behind them, have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at medical conferences across the country. Her work has been featured by RVA Magazine, the Richmond Times Dispatch, Grid Magazine, Science Matters, and CBS News.

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