Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Pasadena Surgeon Honored by Supervisor Barger As Armenian History Month Draws to Close

Dr. Andre Panossian provides a warm touch and shares a smile with a young patient during a medical examination. [Photo credit: Dr. Panossian]Dr. Andre Panossian provides a warm touch and shares a smile with a young patient during a medical examination. [Photo credit: Dr. Panossian]

“We honor the strength and resilience of the Armenian people, while celebrating leaders in our own communities whose work uplifts lives locally and across the globe,” Barger said

In 2015, Dr. Andre Panossian traveled to Haiti with a team of pediatric surgeons and helped perform what Partners in Health, the nonprofit that organized the trip, described as the country’s first conjoined twin separation.

That career — running from a practice steps from one of the region’s largest hospitals to surgical missions across multiple countries — is what Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger recognized Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors public hearing, presenting Panossian with a commemorative scroll of commendation as Armenian History Month drew to a close.

Panossian, a board-certified plastic surgeon whose practice at 39 Congress St. is affiliated with Huntington Hospital, has spent nearly two decades in Pasadena treating patients with facial paralysis, cleft lip and palate, and vascular birthmarks. According to a press release from Supervisor Barger’s office, he has performed more than 4,000 surgeries over the course of his career.

“Armenian History Month is a time to both reflect and recognize,” Barger said at the ceremony. “We honor the strength and resilience of the Armenian people, while celebrating leaders in our own communities whose work uplifts lives locally and across the globe. Dr. Andre Panossian, Vahe Kuzoyan, and Ara Mahdessian embody the very best of service, innovation, and compassion.”

A graduate of UCLA, Panossian earned his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed his plastic surgery residency at the University of Southern California before pursuing specialized pediatric training at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and additional fellowship work at Harvard Medical School. He has been in practice in Pasadena since 2007.

The Haiti surgery, in which he served as lead plastic surgeon, is one of the missions he described plainly in a prior interview. “The medical mission was for the sole purpose of performing Haiti’s first conjoined twin separation,” he said. That same year — 2015 — he helped launch Mending Kids’ first surgical mission to Armenia, a program that, according to a 2021 press release from the organization, has continued annually since, training local physicians alongside each mission.

His recognition coincides with the county’s 10th consecutive designation of April as Armenian History Month. This year’s observance marks the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, during which, according to Barger’s office, approximately 1.5 million Armenians were killed.

Barger also honored Vahe Kuzoyan and Ara Mahdessian, co-founders of the Glendale-based software company ServiceTitan, which serves skilled trade contractors. A company representative accepted their scroll on their behalf.

“Today’s honorees represent excellence across different fields, but they share a common commitment to service and community,” Barger said. “Their achievements reflect the enduring contributions of the Armenian American community and inspire the next generation of leaders.”

In Pasadena, the Armenia mission Panossian helped build more than a decade ago still sends surgeons to Yerevan. The scroll he received Tuesday recognizes both the practice on Congress Street and the work it made possible everywhere else.