Steven H. Dayan, MD
Dr. Steven Dayan is a board certified facial plastic surgeon, professor at the University of Illinois, researcher, and author whose career has been defined by a willingness to challenge the conventional wisdom of aesthetic medicine. As founder of DeNova Research, a clinical research center, he has spent more than two decades investigating not only how aesthetic treatments work, but why beauty matters, how we perceive it, and the ways appearance influences human behavior and social interaction.
A prolific writer with more than 250 medical articles to his credit, Dr. Dayan is also a widely sought-after international keynote speaker known for making complex scientific ideas accessible, provocative, and memorable. His lectures blend research with stories and observations drawn from decades of clinical experience, often challenging audiences to reconsider assumptions they have long taken for granted. His 2014 book, Subliminally Exposed, exploring the science and psychology of attraction, became a New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller.
Education has remained central to Dr. Dayan’s career. As Director of the Facial Plastic Surgery Fellowship Program at the University of Illinois, he plays an active role in training the next generation of aesthetic physicians. Previously, as an adjunct professor at DePaul University, he taught the popular undergraduate course The Science of Beauty and Its Impact on Culture and Business, introducing a generation of students to the philosophy, psychology, and practical realities of aesthetics.
His educational influence extends well beyond university. Through editorial positions with medical journals and leadership roles at many of the world’s prominent aesthetic meetings including AMWC Monaco, North America, Vegas Cosmetic Surgery, IMCAS, Cairo Face, and others, Dr. Dayan has helped shape the education of tens of thousands of aesthetically minded physicians and providers around the world.
Leader in His Field
For more than a decade, Dr. Dayan has been consistently recognized by his peers among the leading physicians in aesthetic medicine, including repeated Castle Connolly Top Doctor recognition. He has also been recognized by Newsweek among the leading rhinoplasty surgeons in the United States and was ranked the #1 Aesthetic Physician in the USA by the peer-voted Aesthetic Everything.
His perspective has always crossed traditional specialty boundaries. Dr. Dayan is uniquely welcomed across facial plastic surgery, plastic surgery, and dermatology and has held membership in the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. He has also served in leadership roles within facial plastic surgery society and on the board of directors for the VOS Collection.
While Dr. Dayan has built an extensive academic career, he has also been a creative force behind numerous commercial innovations in aesthetics, health, and wellness. He has designed and conducted clinical trials for many well-known products and technologies, helping translate scientific observations into differentiated products, meaningful claims, and new ways of thinking about aesthetic medicine.
Perhaps what most distinguishes Dr. Dayan, however, is not any single credential or accomplishment. He remains a renaissance thinker and doer, motivated by curiosity and by a desire to encourage medicine to consider a different perspective. Whether writing, speaking from a podium, appearing on a podcast, teaching, or simply having a conversation, he has an unusual ability to connect seemingly unrelated ideas and communicate complex concepts through stories people remember.
It is why one of the reactions most often heard after he speaks may also be the simplest description of what he does best:
“He just described what I’ve always thought, but never knew how to say.”
