About Sean T. Doherty, MD, FACS

Boston Plastic Surgery – Sean Doherty, MD

Mission Statement

Providing safe, effective, thoughtful aesthetic care is more than just a vocation for me. It’s a calling. As someone who was born and raised in Boston, my love for this city and its people is an integral part of who I am. So, the fact that my job is to help my Boston area patients to look and feel like the best version of themselves is both incredibly gratifying and humbling. Humility may not be the first term that comes to mind when you think of a surgeon. It does require confidence to operate on a patient and know that you can do a good job. I have always believed in my talent, but part of what drew me to plastic surgery is that delivering a great result is not just about being technically proficient. There is an equally important creative aspect. I describe plastic surgery as residing at the crossroad between science and art. For me, the path to assessing the artistic aspects of my craft is by truly listening to my patients.

Any procedure, whether it is something significant like a tummy tuck or something more subtle like facial injections, must be individualized to your anatomy and goals. It is only by really hearing what it is that you desire, that I can create the right treatment plan. Sometimes, this means paying as much attention to what you don’t say as what you do. And sometimes, it means telling you that what you want may not be achievable in the way that you want. 

At its core, my practice philosophy is to keep it real. I have never and will never be a surgeon who tries to talk you into anything. I pride myself on being extremely honest and clear about what I think will work and not work. I feel like my patients connect with me because they know that they can trust me to not just be frank, but to also deliver the kind of aesthetic result that looks completely natural. I don’t want anyone to ever notice the work. Instead, I’d like other people to ask where you went on vacation. My goal is for you to look like you on your best day. Every day.

I look forward to meeting you!

EDUCATION

Dedham High School, Class of 1989, Salutatorian

Columbia College, Columbia University, New York, NY – 1989-1993, B.A.
(Art History, Pre-Med)

Reid Hall, Columbia College, Paris France – January – June, 1992
(Art and Architecture, French social and intellectual history)

Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA – 1996 – 2000, M.D.

Plastic Surgery Experience

Boston Center for Plastic Surgery
2014 – Present
69 Newbury Street, 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02116
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon: Facial Aesthetics, including Botox, Juvederm, Voluma, Volbella, Restylane, Sculptra and Kybella injections. Men’s facial aesthetics and injections, Skin Care, Facial Laser Resurfacing, Breast Augmentation, Liposuction, Abdominoplasty, Eyelid surgery, Facelift surgery.

Boston Plastic Surgery Specialists
2007 – 2015
Board Certified Plastic Surgeon in Concord, MA.

Cynosure, Inc. 
July 2013 – May 2025
Medical Director and Principal Investigator.
Westford, MA

Cynosure Lutronic, Inc.
May 2025 – Present 
Associate Medical Director 
Westford, MA

Allergan, Inc.
2015 – 2021
Speaker, Trainer, Peer-to-Peer Educator
Provided training to other medical professionals on proper and safe injections of Botox, Juvederm, Voluma, Volbella and Kybella.

Galderma
2009 – 2021
Peer-to-Peer Educator
Provided didactic and hands-on education and training to medical professionals on facial anatomy and demonstrate and teach safe, compliant and effective injections of neurotoxin (Dysport), hyaluronic acids (Restylane, Restylane Silk and Restylane Lyft) and biostimulants (Sculptra).

Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen
2008 – 2016
Plastic Surgeon
Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA

Palomar Medical Technology,
July 2008 – July 2013 (acquired by Cynosure, Inc.)
Assistant Medical Director
Burlington, MA

BOARD CERTIFICATION

American Board of Plastic Surgeons, 2010

AWARDS

TRAINING

Boston Plastic Surgery Specialists, Concord, MA
2007 – 2015
Fellow, Laser and Aesthetic Surgery

Department of Plastic Surgery, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA
2005 – 2007
Chief Resident July 2006 – June 2007
Clinical Instructor, Tufts University School of Medicine
Rotations at: Lahey Clinic. Burlington, MA, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA and Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine.

General Surgery:
St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, MA 2000 – 2005

AFFILIATIONS

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Needham, MA – 2013 – Present

New England Baptist, Boston, MA – 2013 – Present

St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, MA – Present

Emerson Hospital, Concord, MA, Division Chief, Plastic Surgery – 2012 – 2021

LICENSURE

Massachusetts – Active License
BLS, CPR and ACLS Certified

MEMBERSHIPS

American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS)

American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS)

Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons (NESPS)

Massachusetts Society of Plastic Surgeons

PRESENTATIONS

Advantages of a Groove Pattern of Micro-fractional Ablation for Facial Skin Resurfacing
Sean Doherty and Brooke Seckel
ASLMS, Washington, DC, 2009

Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgery, Annual Meeting, Boston, MA
Speaker, “Social Media…Do I Have to??”
October 27, 2018

Using Technology and Topicals to Treat Complications and Side Effects
ASLMS, Nursing/Allied Health Course
Orlando, April 2015

Advances in Medical Aesthetics for the Modern Male
Annual Academy of Medical Esthetic Professionals
9th Annual Conference, Boston, September 2015

Using Technology and Topicals to Treat Complications and Side Effects
American Society of Plastic Surgery Nurses Convention
Boston, October 2015

Hot Topics: PICO Lasers-Where They Fit In
Laser and Devices: Understanding PICO Technology
American Society of Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting, Boston, October 2015

Body Dysmorphic Disorder and Cosmetic Surgery
ASLMS, Nursing/Allied Health Course
Boston, April 2016

RESEARCH/PUBLICATIONS

Safety and Efficacy of a Noninvasive 1,060-nm Diode Laser for Fat Reduction of the Flanks.
Katz, Bruce MD; Doherty, Sean MD. Boston & Chestnut Hill MA. Dermatologic Surgery. 2017 Sept

Polarization enhanced wide-field imaging for evaluating dermal changes caused by non-ablative fractional laser treatment.
Feng X, Doherty S, Yarslavsky I, Altshuler G, Yaroslavsky AN, Lasers Surg Med. 2016 Feb;48(2):150-6.

The role of laser tunnels in laser-assisted lipolysis.
Seckel, BR, Doherty ST, Childs JJ, Smirnov MZ, Cohen RH, Altshuler GB. Laser Surg Med. 2009 Dec;41(10):728-37.

Groove Patterns of Ablation for Fractional Skin Resurfacing:
Healing Time Course Study and Histologic Evaluation
E. Victor Ross, Sean Doherty+, and Brooke Seckel+
Scripps Clinic Carmel Valley, San Diego, CA, Sean Doherty, MD, Concord, MA

Groove Patterns of Ablation for Fractional Skin Resurfacing:
Clinical Results and Applications
Sean Doherty, Brooke Seckel, Christine Dierickx*, and E. Victor Ross+
Sean Doherty, MD, Concord, MA, Laser Clinic Boom, Belgium*,
Scripps Clinic Carmel Valley, San Diego, CA

COMBINED ABLATIVE AND NON-ABLATIVE FRACTIONAL TREATMENT FOR FACIAL SKIN REJUVENATION
Lawrence Bass, Mathew Del Guzzo, Sean Doherty* and Brooke Seckel*
NY, NY, *Sean Doherty, MD, Concord, MA (Abstract for ASLMS Meeting 2009)

ADVANTAGES OF A GROOVE PATTERN OF micro-fractional ablation for FACIAL SKIN RESURFACING
Sean Doherty and Brooke Seckel
Sean Doherty, MD, Concord, MA (Abstract for ASLMS Meeting 2009)

ENHANCED TISSUE RETRACTION WITH A NOVEL LIPID- AND WATER-SELECTIVE DEVICE FOR LASER-ASSISTED LIPOSUCTION
Robert A. Weiss1, Brooke Seckel2, Sean Doherty2, Margaret A. Weiss1, Karen L. Beasley1
1Maryland Laser, Skin and Vein Institute, Baltimore, Maryland
2Sean Doherty, MD, Concord, Massachusetts (Abstract for ASLMS Meeting 2009)

Doherty, ST., Bryan, DJ. Assessment of Electrospun Polymer Guides to Reconstruct Peripheral Nerve Defects in Rats. This project is done in conjunction with Nano Technologies, Inc. Its goal is to construct a tissue engineered guide using electrospinning technology of collagen. Its goal is to assess safety and efficacy of this material to more closely mimic the microenvironment seen by regenerating axons.

Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, NY
Research Assistant to Michael Terman, Ph.D. Recruited, selected and evaluated subjects for a randomized, placebo controlled study of Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D) and the therapeutic effects of light therapy. Administered numerous psychiatric instruments. Assisted with data comparison study. 1995-1996