Paul Phelps

Paul Phelps, MD, FACS, is an oculofacial plastic surgeon who founded Chicago Oculofacial Plastic Surgery, S.C., where he serves as founder, CEO and practice leader. Since October 2021 he has directed the Oculofacial Plastic Surgery Service at Cook County Health, and he holds a Clinical Assistant Professor appointment at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He has more than 15 years of experience and more than 15,000 procedures performed. His hospital privileges are at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Cook County Health, with ambulatory surgery privileges at 900 N Surgical Center. He received his medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine, completed an internal medicine internship at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, and finished an ophthalmology residency at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County. He then completed an ophthalmic pathology fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an oculofacial plastic surgery fellowship at Albany Medical College. Earlier he was a Fulbright Scholar at Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, and a research associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also an attending surgeon at NorthShore University HealthSystem and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. His specialty is laser-assisted eyelid and facial rejuvenation. Consultations start with imaging, then a review of the eyelids, brow, facial contours, skin and how volume sits in the face, and he weighs symmetry, structure and tissue quality before designing treatment around each patient's anatomy, goals and intended outcome. He speaks internationally and has been asked to present on cosmetic laser techniques and recent advances in facial aesthetics, has written more than 100 publications, and is principal investigator on a Phase 2b study of linsitinib in thyroid eye disease (2024). Awards include a Physician Excellence Award from NorthShore University HealthSystem (2020), a Teacher of the Year Award from the Chicago Curriculum on Ophthalmology (2024), and a Newsweek listing among America's Best Plastic Surgeons for eyelid surgery (2026).