Faculty

Alison Kaye, MD, earned her undergraduate degree from the California Institute of Technology and her medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her plastic surgery training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, followed by fellowship training in pediatric plastic surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She has been board-certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery since 2010. 

Dr. Kaye serves as the Medical Director of Cooper’s Regional Cleft and Craniofacial Program and as Program Director of Cooper’s Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program.

Her clinical practice focuses on pediatric plastic surgery, with a particular interest in caring for children born with cleft lip and cleft palate. She also treats a broad range of soft-tissue injuries and conditions in children from infancy through young adulthood, including breast and chest conditions, lacerations, scars, wounds, moles, cysts, masses, and birthmarks. Because many of these conditions can affect patients throughout their lives, she also cares for select adult patients whose needs overlap with her pediatric expertise.

As the mother of six, Dr. Kaye brings a personal understanding of the importance of making children and their families feel comfortable and supported throughout their surgical experience. She believes in close collaboration with each patient and family to establish priorities, understand expectations, and develop an individualized plan for treatment and recovery when surgery is needed.

John D. Bauer, MD, is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at Cooper Norcross Health and an Associate Program Director of Cooper’s Integrated Plastic Surgery Residency Program. He earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed his general surgery training at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University Hospital. He subsequently completed fellowship training in plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he also completed research training.

Dr. Bauer’s clinical practice encompasses reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery, with a particular focus on breast surgery and cosmetic procedures. He also has experience caring for patients requiring complex reconstruction and gender-affirming procedures, including top surgery and facial feminization procedures.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Bauer is actively involved in surgical education. He serves as an Associate Program Director for Cooper’s plastic surgery residency and is a member of the Association of Academic Surgeons and the Association of Surgical Educators. He is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery and the American Association for Hand Surgery.

Dr. Bauer has contributed to the plastic surgery literature through research and peer-reviewed publications spanning reconstructive surgery, wound care, pressure sores, and aesthetic surgery.

Caroline M. McLaughlin, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and her medical degree from Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She completed her integrated plastic surgery training at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, followed by an additional year of fellowship training in upper extremity and peripheral nerve surgery at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. McLaughlin serves as Associate Program Director of Cooper’s Plastic Surgery Residency and as Director of the Plastic Surgery Clerkship. Her clinical practice focuses on hand surgery, upper and lower extremity salvage, Mohs reconstruction, and complex reconstruction.

Dr. McLaughlin is committed to providing thoughtful, comprehensive care to patients with a wide range of reconstructive needs. She also enjoys teaching and mentoring the next generation of plastic surgeons through her roles in medical education.

Outside of the hospital, Dr. McLaughlin enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.

Steven C. Bonawitz, MD, has been practicing plastic and reconstructive surgery since 1994. He earned his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Albany and his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Syracuse. He completed his General Surgery residency at Western Pennsylvania Hospital in Pittsburgh, followed by Plastic Surgery residency training at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He then completed a fellowship in Craniofacial Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. Bonawitz is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgery, the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association, and the American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery. He has served on numerous committees within these organizations, with a particular focus on health policy, advocacy, and ethics, and has chaired several of these committees.

Before joining Cooper, Dr. Bonawitz spent 14 years in private practice in Maine. He subsequently joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh in 2009 before being recruited to the Department of Plastic Surgery at Johns Hopkins University. He later returned to South Jersey to lead the Division of Plastic Surgery at Cooper University Hospital.

Dr. Bonawitz specializes in reconstructive breast surgery, microsurgery, and craniofacial reconstruction. He is committed to providing complex reconstructive care while working closely with patients to develop individualized treatment plans that address both their medical needs and personal goals.

Michael J. Franco, MD, is a board-certified plastic surgeon and hand surgeon at Cooper Norcross University Hospital. His practice focuses on hand and peripheral nerve surgery, complex upper extremity reconstruction, and limb preservation.

His path to plastic surgery began at Temple University in North Philadelphia, where he attended medical school and developed an early appreciation for trauma surgery and the surgeons who cared for patients with complex injuries. He went on to complete his plastic surgery training at Washington University in St. Louis, where he spent six years developing expertise in reconstructive, hand, and peripheral nerve surgery. During this time, he had the opportunity to train with leaders in peripheral nerve surgery, an experience that has continued to shape his clinical practice and academic interests.

In 2015, Dr. Franco completed a one-year fellowship in hand surgery at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, where he trained under Bobby Chhabra, MD, and worked alongside leaders in plastic, microvascular, hand, and nerve surgery.

Dr. Franco returned to South Jersey in 2016 to join Cooper. Working alongside Dr. Steven Bonawitz and Dr. David Fuller, he helped expand Cooper’s hand program into an integrated orthopedic and plastic surgery service designed to care for the full spectrum of hand and peripheral nerve conditions. The team subsequently published their experience with this collaborative model as a framework for both patient care and surgical education.

Today, Dr. Franco maintains a high-volume practice focused on hand and peripheral nerve surgery. He has a particular interest in caring for patients with traumatic limb loss and uses targeted muscle reinnervation as part of advanced limb reconstruction and amputation care. His other clinical interests include peripheral nerve surgery, carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, and thumb carpometacarpal arthritis.

Dr. Franco is also passionate about research and education. He is helping build the Cooper Hand and Nerve Discovery Laboratory—the Cooper HAND Lab—which brings together undergraduate students, medical students, residents, and faculty across plastic surgery, orthopedic surgery, upper extremity surgery, and peripheral nerve surgery. The laboratory’s work includes studying large healthcare databases to better understand disparities in hand, upper extremity, and plastic surgery care, as well as developing prospective research programs focused on patient outcomes and patient-reported outcomes.

For Dr. Franco, Cooper is more than a place to practice medicine—it is home. He is deeply invested in building the hand and nerve program, advancing research and education, and caring for the patients and community he has served since returning to South Jersey.

Jackson R. Hunt, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon at Cooper Norcross Health. He earned his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine and completed his general surgery training at Hahnemann University Hospital and New York University Langone Health. He subsequently completed his plastic and reconstructive surgery training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Hunt’s clinical practice encompasses plastic and reconstructive surgery with a focus on caring for patients with breast reconstruction needs.

Dr. Lyle Back is originally from New York City, receiving his medical and surgical training at Rutgers Medical School, Cooper University Hospital, and Ohio State University Hospital. He is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. He served as an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at Temple University and St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia and performed reconstructive facial surgery with "Operation Smile" in Vietnam. He is a well-known, popular, "Top Doc" cosmetic surgeon in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area where he has been in private practice for more than 25 years.