Dr Tiago comes from a family who’ve made a name for themselves in the medical community for their expertise in plastic surgery. “My grandfather founded plastic surgery in Portugal after having trained in post-World War London with doctors Gillies and McIndoe, two British surgeons from New Zealand, who led research into reconstruction surgeries for war victims,” he told The Portugal News.

“War is always a vehicle, unfortunately, for the evolution of medicine”, Baptista Fernandes lamented. “There have obviously been many conflicts throughout the centuries, but the world wars brought problems we’d never encountered: more destructive weapons, Airforce, bombing, artillery, chemical weapons… and this all led to a level of damage much greater than what had been known before”.

Learning of these techniques, his grandfather went to England several times, and operated mainly in Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, with its Maxillofacial team.

“Later, he returned to Portugal and developed the techniques he learnt in national hospitals, creating new ones, designing surgical instruments, and shaping the history of the Portuguese plastic surgery community”, he recalled.

“I’m the third generation, and our family has always been tied to the Santa Maria Hospital here in Lisbon. I went several times to the United States for my own training”, Dr. Tiago recounted. “I felt the need to further develop Aesthetic surgery. Therefore, throughout a 15-year period, went to visit and exchange experiences with the best American surgeons, highly recognised for facial techniques”.

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Holistic concept

In 2019, Dr. Tiago founded Up Clinic with a vision that went far beyond the traditional concept of a plastic surgery practice. Built around a holistic and multidisciplinary approach, Up Clinic brings together Plastic Surgery, Aesthetic Medicine, Hair Restoration and Smart Aging to provide integrated, highly personalised care throughout every stage of the patient journey. Today, Up Clinic has evolved into a distinctive healthcare and aesthetics brand, with their surgeons being present in Lisbon, Leiria, Algarve, Azores and Madeira.

Their team comprises four plastic surgeons, with a fifth joining them soon, each specialising in a specific field of aesthetic surgery. “In the Algarve, we have consultations and surgeries from Faro to Lagos through a partnership with the Private Hospital Algarve CUF, but we’ve also just struck a deal to develop plastic surgery in Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo”, Fernandes highlighted. “This gives us immense satisfaction, as we’re proud to be in the elite of plastic surgery, with all the best techniques on a global level and available for our patients in Algarve.”

Innovative leaders

Dr Tiago Baptista Fernandes is the National Secretary for the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) and has integrated the team into a worldwide network of plastic surgeons. “Right now, we’re developing, in partnership with Dra Rita Meireles, a breast surgery with quick recovery time and short scars, using new techniques which allow us to minimise the dimension of the scars that are created”, he explained. “This is a massive advantage, as it allows the patient to return to their normal lives much quicker”.

As for corporal contour, led by Dr Rui Lima, the team takes pride in their high-definition liposculpture practice, as well as post-bariatric surgeries, “which are hugely important for people who were obese and, by losing weight, ended up disfigured, bringing up many psychological issues and difficulties on the social and professional levels”, Baptista Fernandes added. His practice has now also incorporated the study of lymphedema, a field being developed to address “the myriad of health problems, especially for women, that this condition brings”.

“Lastly, we have facial aesthetic surgery, the field coordinated by me, and it’s safe to say this is an area in which we are world leaders”, he stated. The team develops techniques in collaboration with the big names of plastic surgery worldwide, such as the likes of Brazil’s Dra Ruth Graf, Turkey’s Dr Zekeriya Kul, and American researchers Dr Mark Mani and Dr Mike Nayak.

Credits: Supplied Image; Author: Client;

Alongside this group of global leaders, they publish scientific articles and collaborate on new research. “At the moment, facial aesthetic surgery has seen a massive surge in demand, passing both body and breast surgery”, Fernandes indicated. “The facial surgery techniques worth pointing out are Endoscopic surgery, or rather, surgery without visible scars, the highly requested Neck lift and the Deep Plane Facelift.

“For example, we developed Dr. Mark Mani’s surgery technique where we enter through the scalp and work on the forehead, eyebrows, eyes, and general face area, without leaving undesirable scars”, he revealed. “Some patients will still have to do an open surgery, but even with visible scars, we can ensure the likelihood of an excellent scar almost invisible is great, mainly because of the subSMAS or deep technique, where the pressure is applied to the deep structures, allowing the skin to heal with low pressure as well as natural and long-lasting results. We do believe that Facelifts at younger age (40s/50s), will slow down the speed/rate of facial aging.”

Learning courses

Dr Tiago Baptista Fernandes and his team host annual facial anatomy courses for learning, with the tenth edition starting in 2027, where they teach their various techniques to plastic surgeons from all over the world.

“One last thing that I’d like to point out is that we’re global pioneers in combining plastic surgery with anti-inflammatory techniques”, he emphasised. “We’ll soon be opening the first anti-inflammatory center in our field in Lisbon, with technology not even seen in the clinics of Beverly Hills”.

Aesthetic Plastic surgery has long been viewed as a slightly taboo topic in society, but Dr. Tiago Baptista Fernandes believes this has been changing recently. “There’s been huge rise in the demand for plastic surgery in recent years, so I think people have come to lose the stigma around it. People finally are talking about it, instead of hiding it”, he concluded. “For thousands of years, humanity has looked for ways to Rejuvenate and treat its skin, and so it's nothing new for a population to want to adopt aesthetic surgery too”.