Introducing Covergirl of our Women In Medicine, @DrDhivyaSrinivasa Founder & CEO of @AvaraWell @The.iabr
Some women heal the world with words. Others with vision. Dr. Dhivya does it with her hands. A double board-certified reconstructive microsurgeon, Dr. Dhivya has dedicated her life to restoring what illness and trauma attempt to take away. With decades of surgical training—including residencies in both general surgery and plastic surgery, followed by a highly specialized microsurgery fellowship—her work sits at the intersection of science, artistry, and compassion. “My day job,” she says with a smile, “is that I’m a reconstructive microsurgeon.” But behind that simple description lies one of the most intricate fields in modern medicine.
Microsurgery allows surgeons to transplant living tissue from one part of the body to another, reconnecting tiny blood vessels under a microscope to restore form and function. For Dr. Dhivya, this skill is most often used to help women rebuild their bodies after breast cancer. “I reconstruct breasts for women who have had breast cancer,” she explains. “It’s about restoring something that disease tried to take away.” Yet for her, reconstruction is about far more than physical repair. It’s about giving women their lives back.
Creating Medicine on Her Own Terms
Dr. Dhivya is also the founder of the Institute for Advanced Breast Reconstruction, a center she built after realizing that traditional medical institutions weren’t allowing her to practice medicine the way she believed it should be practiced. “When you train in medicine, you’re almost conditioned to believe the only path is working for a big academic institution,” she says. “That’s what I did at first. But what I realized quickly was that I had very little control over the patient experience.”
For a surgeon who believes deeply in individualized care, that limitation was impossible to ignore. “I work for the patient,” she says. “Not for an institution.” In her practice, the rules are simple: compassion comes first.
Many of her patients arrive late for appointments—not because they are careless, but because their lives are filled with hospital visits, imaging appointments, chemotherapy treatments, and medical consultations. “So in my office,” she explains, “it doesn’t matter if you’re late. Nobody is going to cancel your appointment. We understand what you’re going through.” That freedom allows her to do something rare in modern healthcare: spend as much time with her patients as they need.
“Reconstruction isn’t just about rebuilding a body. It’s about restoring dignity, identity, and the life that still exists beyond diagnosis.”
Women often meet Dr. Dhivya at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. After diagnosis. After surgery. After treatment. But when they step into her office, the conversation shifts.
“I remind them that I’m a quality-of-life surgeon,” she says. While oncologists focus on saving lives, her role is to focus on what life looks like after cancer. “We talk about the light at the end of the tunnel,” she explains. “There will be a time when cancer is behind them, but they still have to live life afterward. My job is to help them live that life as fully as possible.” It is in these moments that Dr. Dhivya witnesses something extraordinary: the resilience of women. “You see women who are exhausted from chemo, dehydrated, sick… and their number one concern is picking their kids up on time.” She pauses. “I get chills talking about it.”
“Women are some of the strongest humans on this planet. I see it every single day.”
Discovering the Art of Surgery
Dr. Dhivya’s path to plastic surgery began unexpectedly. While in medical school, she rotated through pediatric plastic surgery—working with children born with conditions like cleft lip and palate. “I thought I was going to become a pediatrician,” she laughs. Instead, she discovered something entirely different. “There’s this whole world in medicine where you get to work with your hands and rebuild things.” Plastic surgery, she realized, wasn’t simply technical—it was artistic. “There’s interpretation. There’s molding. There’s creativity. It’s not rote. There’s artistry in it.” That moment of discovery shaped the trajectory of her career. She knew she belonged in the operating room.
Motherhood and Perspective
Outside of the hospital, Dr. Dhivya is also the mother of three. Motherhood, she says, fundamentally changed the way she sees the world. “It completely changes your DNA as a human.” When you are responsible for the most precious lives on earth, your perspective shifts.
“You start thinking not just about the patient, but about their children, their families, their spouses.” That deeper empathy carries into every patient interaction. “My heart bleeds for them,” she says softly.
Navigating a Male-Dominated Field
Like many women in surgery, Dr. Dhivya built her career in environments historically dominated by men. Interestingly, she says her confidence was never the issue. “I’ve always been very confident.” The challenge was the systems around her. During her early career, she was often the only woman, the only woman of color, and the only mother in her division.
“That’s a lot for people to understand if they’ve never lived it.” Instead of trying to change a system that refused to evolve, she made a bold decision. “I left.” She built something of her own. “Sometimes you have to choose your happiness,” she says. Her advice to young professionals is simple but powerful: “When it comes to your job, there are three things you need: Do you like what you do? Do you like who you work with? And do you get paid well? You need at least two of those three.” If you only have one—or none—it’s time to leave.
The Birth of Avara | The Billion Dollar Skincare Solution
As if pioneering surgical techniques and running a medical practice weren’t enough, Dr. Dhivya has also entered the beauty industry. Her skincare company, Avara, was born from a question she couldn’t ignore. Where is skincare for women going through medical changes? “If you’re undergoing IVF… where is the pregnancy-safe skincare section at Sephora?”
It doesn’t exist. “What about women with rosacea, eczema, autoimmune disease, chemotherapy, or menopause?” Again, silence. So she created it. Avara is built around health-inclusive beauty—skincare designed specifically for women navigating hormonal shifts, medical treatments, and sensitive skin.
Originally developed with cancer patients in mind, the products quickly proved powerful beyond that audience. “I cleared my own hormonal acne using them,” she says. Today, messages from users arrive daily—doctors, patients, women who had never been able to tolerate traditional skincare products.
Heal. Grow. Glow.
Dr. Dhivya approaches skincare the same way she approaches surgery. There is a process. “First you heal,” she explains. “Then you grow.” And then you glow.” Most beauty brands, she says, focus only on the final step. “They want glow without healing.” Avara reverses that approach by rebuilding the skin barrier first.
Future products will continue expanding the concept—including portable travel skincare and eventually pigmented skincare designed to enhance natural beauty while supporting skin health. “We’re not trying to be MAC or Huda Beauty,” she says. “We’re creating something different.”
Redefining Confidence
When asked what true confidence means, Dr. Dhivya reflects on her upbringing. Her parents immigrated from India and worked tirelessly to create opportunities for their children. “My father grew up barefoot in a village with no electricity,” she says. Thinking about that perspective keeps everything in focus.
“When you realize what your parents sacrificed to give you a life, worrying about what other people think becomes ridiculous.” She smiles. “It’s actually an insult to them.”
The Legacy That Matters Most
Dr. Dhivya has already built an extraordinary career. She is a surgeon. A founder. An innovator. A mother. An entrepreneur. But when asked how she wants the world to remember her, her answer is simple. “I hope people say I raised good kids.” Not awards. Not wealth. Not recognition. Just human beings who contribute meaningfully to the world. “That would mean I did it right.”
Photography by Lindy Lin
Makeup Artist Heidy Gondola
