His Most Famous Research
Antell is considered a pioneer for studying how lifestyle affects aging by comparing identical twins (who share the same genetics). Key idea: He tried to isolate environment vs. genetics.
What he found was lifestyle factors like sun exposure, smoking, stress, diet, and alcohol can significantly change how a person ages—even compared to their genetically identical twin.
In simple terms, two people with the same DNA can look dramatically different depending on how they live. This work became widely recognized and was even featured in a Smithsonian human genome exhibit, which is unusual for a plastic surgeon .
Twin-Based Surgical Research
Antell also used twins to study plastic surgery outcomes, which is rare and scientifically valuable.
Example:
Found:
Technique & Research
In more recent discussions, Antell talks about advanced facelift methods like the deep plane facelift. His stance is there is no single “best” facelift. The best approach depends on the individual.
He often describes his work as a “designer facelift” tailored to anatomy. He has studied different surgical depths (like SMAS vs deep plane), long-term outcomes, technique comparisons using twin models.
While his research is influential in plastic surgery:
“Darrick Antell deep research” usually refers to:
At this point in my career, I have performed more facelifts than anyone in the world, on identical twins. Twins who want to remain looking similar, seek me out as if two different surgeons operated on them,… they would get different results.
In addition to my publications, I am one of very few plastic surgeons who have BOTH a Dental as well as a Medical degree which provides me a unique appreciation of facial anatomy and aging.
The third paper attached is the original career making article visually proving the effects of Excess Sun, Smoking and Stress (the 3 S’s’) on the aging process. I think you will agree the photos are impressive where one was a nudist (excess sun) or where one smoked for 30 years and her twin sister never did !!!
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