Advanced Aesthetics

Edward Gronka was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania, near the Pocono Mountains. In 1977, he came to Atlanta to complete his undergraduate studies at Emory University, where he received the George P. Cuttino Award for academic achievement. He received his Medical Doctorate degree from Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Gronka has extensive surgical training. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. He completed five years of General Surgery training at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, Florida, where he was given the status of Chief Resident in his final year. He did his Plastic Surgery residency at Ohio State University, where he trained under world renowned plastic surgeons.

Dr. Gronka has been in practice in Atlanta since 1992. For the past three years, Life Styles Magazine has named him one of the “Top Docs of the Southern Arc,” a distinction voted by his peers. He attributes this award to his philosophy on the practice of Plastic Surgery and his treatment of individual patients: “Each patient must be evaluated as an individual and a unique plastic surgery approach must be tailored to that person’s needs.”

Dr. Gronka is expertly trained in all aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery. His interests in plastic surgery include cosmetic improvement of the breast, face, and body, including the abdomen, hips, and thighs. He is also an expert in reconstructive surgery of the breast and body. The surgeries he frequently performs are breast augmentation and reduction, liposuction, abdominoplasty, facelift, eye lid surgery, and breast reconstruction following mastectomy.

Dr. Gronka performs most of his cosmetic surgery at the Advanced Aesthetics Plastic Surgery Center. He also has privileges at Piedmont Fayette Hospital and Southern Regional Medical Center. Like Dr. Feldman and Dr. Raniere, he is an active member of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

Dr. Gronka is married and has two children. When not working, he spends most of his time with his family. His personal interests include golf, music, and cooking. He enjoys traveling all over the world to enjoy these pastimes.

“Mel” was born in the very small town of Wedowee, Alabama. He is a graduate of Auburn University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. He attended medical school at The University of Alabama School of Medicine and then completed a General Surgery residency at The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital System. For fellowship training in Plastic Surgery, he was chosen to attend Tulane University in New Orleans. He has been in practice in Alabama for six years. Dr. Stewart is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.

Dr. Stewart enjoys all aspects of plastic surgery. His primary areas of interest are in eyelid and brow rejuvenation, as well as in rhinoplasty. In addition to traditional facial plastic surgery techniques, he is a proponent of less invasive techniques such as short scar surgery, fillers, BOTOX®, laser resurfacing, and chemical peels. He also enjoys doing breast enhancement and body contouring, such as liposuction and tummy tucks.

Dr. Stewart’s main drive to enter the field of plastic surgery was to help those suffering from the disfigurement of breast cancer surgery. He has training in all areas of breast reconstruction and employs many techniques that use a patient’s own tissues, with and without implants, to achieve the reconstruction.

Other areas of interest pertaining to reconstructive surgery are breast reduction, hand surgery, and reconstruction of defects after cancer removal.

“My practice is to spend a sufficient amount of time with my patients so that they can get a feel for me and so that I can answer any questions that they might have. Then, together, we will make a plan that both the patient and I am happy about.” –Dr. Stewart

Dr. Stewart will practice primarily in our Newnan and LaGrange locations.

When not caring for patients, Dr. Stewart enjoys spending time with his wife and three boys. He enjoys most outdoor activities and especially enjoys SEC football in the fall. He also has been known to play guitar from time to time, much to the dismay of his family. He lives in LaGrange, where his wife also practices.

Joseph Raniere originally hails from the Northeast, specifically the Jersey Shore. He earned his medical degree from New Jersey Medical School in 1993, where he achieved membership into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. After graduating in the top 10 percent of his medical school class, he completed five years of General Surgery training at the Harvard University-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and a long-time member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Dr. Raniere has also completed two additional years of specialty training in Plastic Surgery at the prestigious University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Raniere is expertly trained in all aspects of plastic and reconstructive surgery, with special interests in liposuction/body contouring (liposuction, abdominoplasty, and body lifts) and facial cosmetic surgery, including rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, and facelifts. His recent interests include offering short scar facelift variations, such as the MACS lift. Additionally, he has utilized his artistic vision to develop an important addition to how he performs his abdominoplasties (tummy tucks) – the “infinity umbilicoplasty.” Dr. Raniere also has interest in cosmetic breast surgery, including breast augmentation, reduction, and mastopexy (breast lift), as well as breast reconstruction following mastectomy, and facial reconstruction after skin cancer removal. He has published several scientific articles on various topics in plastic surgery, including rhinoplasty, liposuction, breast augmentation, and abdominoplasty (tummy tuck).

Dr. Raniere has privileges at Piedmont Fayette Hospital, where he is Chief of Plastic Surgery, as well as Piedmont Newnan Hospital, Southern Regional Medical Center, Henry Medical Center, and West Georgia Medical Center.

Dr. Raniere takes great pride in providing the highest quality of personalized care to each individual’s needs. “My personal practice philosophy is to give my patients my undivided attention, listen to their specific needs and goals, and then perform surgically to the best of my ability to achieve a natural result.”

Dr. Raniere resides in Peachtree City, and his favorite pastimes include spending time with his wife and two daughters, listening to music, and fishing/boating. He can also be found some weekends around town playing guitar for a local band, “Gravity.”

Paul D. Feldman is the founder of Advanced Aesthetics, the largest Plastic Surgery Practice on Atlanta’s Southside and Truffles Medispa, a premier medical spa specializing in non-surgical facial rejuvenation. He has 24 years of experience in Plastic Surgery. His practice focuses on cosmetic surgery of the face, breast and body in addition to breast reconstruction.

His unique approach to facial rejuvenation includes both surgical and non-surgical approaches. He introduced the “Short Scar Face Lift,” a technique that avoids scars behind the ear and combines a mid-face lift to give a very natural un-operated look that may be performed under local anesthesia. His experience with laser resurfacing for the etched lines of the face, BOTOX®, and use of fillers such as Sculptra® for the facial atrophy of aging completes the “trim work” of facial rejuvenation. He will commonly combine Blepharoplasty or eyelid surgery, and a limited incision brow lift with the Endotine-absorbable implant with the “Short Scar Face Lift” to “complete the package.”

Dr. Feldman enjoys performing rhinoplasty (cosmetic nasal surgery). He uses the most advanced techniques such as the “open” approach and advanced grafting techniques that are necessary for the most difficult cases. He uses computer imaging to help analyze and show his patients the results that can be reasonably expected.

Dr. Feldman has over a thousand cases of experience in cosmetic breast surgery including breast augmentation, trans-axillary breast augmentation, silicone gel implants, saline filled implants, and breast lifts (mastopexy). He developed a strategy to avoid thinking about what size implant to use and to start thinking about what look you want. He does a custom fit of the breast implant size inside the operating room and will allow the patient’s spouse or significant other to come into the operating room to assist with the sizing. Dr. Feldman also introduced a technique for breast lift and breast reduction that avoids a vertical scar in selected patients.

Dr. Feldman also specializes in body contouring and Mommy Makeovers, including abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), liposuction, Mastopexy (breast lift), arm lifts, and thigh lifts. His physical conditioning gives him the stamina to avoid leaving unwanted fat behind.


H Magazine January/February 2012

Besides cosmetic surgery, Dr. Feldman has experienced a personal family loss from breast cancer and therefore maintains a special place in his heart for his Breast Cancer patients. Many of his closest doctor-patient bonds are formed with his breast reconstruction patients.

Paul Feldman is originally from Long Island, New York. He graduated with High Honors and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Florida (Go Gators) in 1977. He completed medical school in three years at the University of South Florida in 1980. After medical school, he finished a five-year General Surgery residency at S.U.N.Y. Downstate in 1985. He spent his last two years of his postdoctoral training at the University of Wisconsin (Go Badgers), completing his Plastic Surgery Residency in 1987. Dr. Feldman packed up and moved to Atlanta to start private practice in 1987 founding Advanced Aesthetics, P.C. and later Truffles Medispa.

Dr. Feldman’s is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery. He is an active member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) and the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS). He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons.

Dr. Feldman is a life-long learner. He enjoys reading, mostly non-fiction topics such as history, science, health, and religion. His sport of choice is long distance running. He runs the Peachtree Road race each year for the last 10 years and has completed 10 marathons plus various half marathons. He is a passionate Green Bay Packer fan and is currently basking in the glow of Superbowl XLV.

He is married and has a teenage son (Yikes!) who keeps him young at heart.

Dr. Feldman’s unique style is that he truly enjoys his patients. He tries to find an interesting connection with each patient and will commonly remember them for years to come. His consultations are in a conversational style and he uses his hand drawn diagrams to illustrate and explain to the patient the suggested procedure. He is generous with his time, almost to a fault, and will give each prospective patient all the time he or she needs to make an informed decision. He tries to avoid cookie cutter answers and will customize a surgical plan for each patient. His expertise in surgical and non-surgical cosmetic approach makes him an excellent resource for a patient who is unsure of what he/she wants or needs.