With its newest faculty addition, UTMB’s Division of Plastic Surgery welcomes home a surgeon whose UTMB training shaped her lifelong commitment to restoring form and function across the lifespan.
For Andrea Allen, MD, MA, BA, a broad and rigorous academic path laid the foundation for her multidisciplinary interests. She earned an MA in Medical Science from Boston University School of Medicine, where her thesis explored the relationship between chronic traumatic encephalopathy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She went on to complete her MD at the University of Kansas School of Medicine before coming to UTMB for her Integrated Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency.
Her introduction to plastic surgery came unexpectedly during medical school. Early in her third year rotation, she observed a major breast reconstruction one day and multiple hand cases the next – an experience that revealed the extraordinary breadth of the field.
“Even as a medical student, I knew about cleft lip and palate, cosmetics, and breast cancer, but I had no idea what the scope of the specialty was. After I had a plastic surgery rotation, I was mind blown that all of this was under the same umbrella,” she recalls.
About 70 percent of Dr. Allen’s practice centers on pediatric burn reconstruction at Shriners Hospital for Children, where she helps children resume daily activities after their wounds have healed.
Many of her patients face functional challenges – joints stiffened by scarring or eyelids that cannot fully close – and she performs procedures to restore movement and relieve tension. She also provides scar resurfacing to refine appearance as children grow, work that is not cosmetic in the elective sense but deeply meaningful for young patients.
“I really like having an impact on people’s quality of life,” she says. “I find it rewarding to improve the things that matter to patients every day.”
The remainder of Dr. Allen’s work is spent treating pediatric and adult patients at UTMB, with reconstructive needs related to trauma, cancer, and massive weight loss. She performs outpatient surgery at all four campuses and participates in the plastic surgery call pool across UTMB locations.
She says some of her strongest interests include body contouring cosmetics, helping patients after they have had significant weight loss.
“We get a lot of experience with that at UTMB, with patients after they've worked so hard to lose weight and have excess skin,” she says.
Dr. Allen also enjoys trauma reconstruction of the face and extremities, pressure injury reconstruction, and breast cancer reconstruction – particularly in Angleton, where she sees significant community need.
Dr. Allen’s work is highly collaborative. She partners with orthopedic surgeons for soft tissue coverage of open fractures, with OBGYN for combined procedures such as hysterectomy and panniculectomy, and with vascular surgery, neurosurgery, and abdominal wall reconstruction teams for complex cases requiring coordinated care.
“The reason I fell in love with plastics was the variety, and that's still what I like the most about it,” she says.
 | Andrea Allen, MD, MA, BA sees patients at the UTMB Health Plastic Surgery clinics at UHC Galveston, Angleton, and League City. Learn more about Plastic Surgery services at UTMB Health. |