In her 20 years as a physician, Dr. Diana Ponsky has earned a stellar reputation—not just for her work as a plastic surgeon but also as one of the few women in a male-dominated field to hold double board certification from the American Board of Facial Plastic Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.

The 51-year-old Pepper Pike resident has never been a stranger to barriers. She’s faced and overcome them since childhood—from fleeing Vietnam with her family to earning scholarships at top U.S. universities and opening a successful private practice in Beachwood.

Her success, resilience, and grit fuel her commitment to giving back, donating her surgical expertise to nonprofits, mentoring young women in STEM and medicine, and working pro bono with vulnerable populations. Between office visits and surgeries—both cosmetic and those that are necessary and life-changing—and teaching as an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, Ponsky still makes time for her Northeast Ohio community in any way she can.

Beating the odds

Ponsky’s path to success wasn’t easy. Born Diana Chuong, she was a young child living with her family on Vietnam’s southern coast when the fall of Saigon in 1975 and the ensuing communist takeover upended their lives.

“[We] stayed long enough to see that the new government started burning houses, seizing businesses, and changing currency on the people,” remembers Ponsky.

The family knew they had to leave their home country, but her mother was hesitant. “She just had a young baby, and I’m sure her inclination was to remain.” She recalls hearing it discussed as “we just had to go.” Her father, grandparents, aunts, and uncles made the decision to leave.

In 1979, when Ponsky was just six years old, the Chuong family fled Vietnam to seek political asylum. They set out by boat for Indonesia, which at the time was considered one of the neutral islands. She and her three sisters, including a two-month-old, her aunt, two uncles, and her grandfather, made it onto the boat. Her grandmother did not.

“Back then, you weren’t allowed to leave—you got jailed if you did,” reflects Ponsky. “So we escaped by boat in the middle of the night. My grandmother got caught and had to be jailed for almost a year. It’s crazy to imagine what she must have felt and gone through.”

She continues, “I do not recall much of that journey, but I knew the first boat trip was harrowing and we were all in danger of dying by drowning or by pirates every day.” The boat lacked an adequate amount of food or water.

The family made it to Indonesia, where they lived for a year while waiting for sponsorship—an individual or group willing to provide financial support for them for another year to move to the United States. Ponsky recalls feeling “displaced and homeless” while they were there, but the family was safe.

The new world

Ava Zweig is mentored in the operating room by Dr. Diana PonskyWhen they finally made their way by plane to the U.S., they settled in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Her mother was determined to make a living to support her family. “She found work wherever she could—as a dishwasher initially—and eventually wherever she could be hired without knowing the language well.”

Ponsky remembers feeling both grateful and lost. “It was a brand new and very different land and a different language,” she says.

The family continued to adjust to the new world thanks to the kindness of others, but they were worried about their grandmother, who was left behind.

Eventually, though, her grandmother made it to Allentown, but by that time, her grandfather was dying.

“It was a tragedy, but she did make it out here and she lived for many years,” reflects Ponsky.

Though Ponsky has limited memories of her time in the refugee camp, she says her parents recounted some of the experiences to her over the years, which inadvertently guided her into a career in medicine and helping others.

“These [were] stories of how we were helped by others in our time of need,” she explains, “[they] played a part in how I look at the world and how it’s my job to pay it forward.”

Blazing a trail of her own

Ponsky grew into adulthood with a determined mindset. She used her resilience, kept her focus sharp, and kept her goals always in sight. This set her up for success in her career and as an eventual mentor.

She attended New York University on a full scholarship, supplemented by a National Merit Scholarship, and graduated in 1995. She officially became a physician when she earned her Doctor of Medicine degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2000.

She moved to the Cleveland area in 2008.

The following year, Ponsky began to make a name for herself locally when she worked as a fellow in reconstructive facial plastic surgery at the University Hospitals (UH) system.

In 2015, she began her private practice, Ponsky Facial Plastic Surgery, in Beachwood. This change allowed her to spend more time with her husband, pediatric surgeon Todd Ponsky, whom she married in 2003 at the age of 29, and their three daughters, now ages 18, 14, and 12.

Ponsky has received many awards throughout her career. For instance, she has been listed as one of the prestigious Castle-Connolly Best Doctors consecutively for the past 10 years—a peer-nominated honor and distinction only 7% of doctors in the U.S. hold.

Passing it on

Ponsky is passionate about mentoring high school and college students, encouraging them to find their own paths to success.

Ava Zweig shadowed Ponsky during her senior year at Solon High School in 2023. She says Ponsky and her team made her feel heard and seen as a young woman trying to figure out if a career in medicine might be right for her.

“They gave me a good glimpse into the work that they do, and they were all so nice,” Zweig says of Ponsky’s team. “They were just happy to share. I felt so welcome when I was in the [operating room] for a couple weeks.”

Zweig is now a freshman at The Ohio State University, majoring in finance and economics—an area she says she decided is better suited for her. She says Ponsky’s mentorship solidified her confidence as a woman and a professional, adding that she may pursue a financial career in the medical field.

“Even in my personal life, I still consider her a mentor,” says Zweig. “She called me the other day, and she’s always asking how I am.”

Dr. Ponsky changed Zweig’s life in more ways than one—Zweig was also a patient.

Zweig put her full trust in the doctor and underwent elective surgery to boost her confidence, allowing her to focus less on her physical insecurities and more on all of the great things in her life. She received rhinoplasty and a chin implant.

“Obviously, she’s a very talented surgeon and that’s why I chose her, but honestly, what makes her most special is she is so in tune with every patient,” says Zweig. “Her personality is crème de la crème, and it shines in her personal and professional life.”

Eve Tranchito is another young woman who called on Dr. Ponsky to mentor her when she entered college. The two had a connection before that: Tranchito once babysat for the Ponsky family, and they’ve remained family friends through the years.

In 2016, Tranchito started medical school at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED). In her third year, she needed to narrow down her list of possible surgical subspecialties. She turned to Ponsky for help in deciding.

After shadowing Ponsky, Tranchito decided to follow in her mentor’s footsteps, beginning her medical career in ENT before gravitating toward plastic surgery. She is now doing her fellowship as a facial plastic surgeon at University Hospitals.

“I couldn’t have done any of this without her, honestly,” says a grateful Tranchito of Ponsky. “A good mentor is someone who you feel is sincerely invested in you, and I definitely felt that with her.”

Ponsky is paying it forward. “I am grateful for the mentors who have helped me to give back because I know I was inspired by others before me,” she says.

The bigger picture

Left to right: Dr. Eve Tranchito, Ava Zweig, Dr. Diana PonskyWhen she is not mentoring local young women, Ponsky focuses on giving back to the community. Her career started in 2005, and soon after, she dedicated herself to being a missionary with Operation Smile, performing cleft surgeries in under-resourced communities around the world.

“I was always interested in being able to help others,” says Ponsky. She says that when she met her husband, Todd, she found a partner with the same dedication to volunteering.

“I think it was fate that I met him,” she says, noting that Todd’s family started the Cleveland-based nonprofits MedWish and Medworks.

“He and his family were so involved in giving back to the community on many levels,” says Ponsky.

While the two nonprofits have now merged under the umbrella of MedWish Medworks, they still maintain identities specific to their work. The MedWish arm ships medical supplies overseas to communities in need, while Medworks hosts free medical, dental, and vision clinics for uninsured Ohioans, primarily in Northeast Ohio.

Additionally, Ponsky has volunteered with FACE TO FACE International, a humanitarian organization performing cosmetic surgery on those who have experienced domestic abuse, veterans who were injured while serving, and children with deformities caused by birth or trauma.

Ponsky was assigned one procedure for the agency. She focused purely on the surgery at first, knowing she had an important task ahead of her. “Honestly, it was after the results that I realized the impact it had on the patient.”

“It’s the fact that I can help patients who have suffered through such trauma to achieve a new identity,” says Ponsky.

Can women in STEM have it all?

Ponsky has found balance. “Yes, one can have it all, but not all at the same time, or in the way that you want,” she explains. “Meaning, I had to wait a few years while my husband was into his career, so we didn’t have two parents super busy and not home with the kids. It requires some sacrifice on when you might achieve something.”

She says having it all takes a village. Home is where the heart is, and she’s grateful her village is in Northeast Ohio.

“Cleveland is where I’ve built my family, and my life, and it has been very warm and welcoming to me.”

Beyond work, Ponsky loves travel and books and is always excited to try new foods.

She says she has no plans to leave the area. Her family, her career, and her ambition to give back through mentorship and nonprofit volunteerism have grounded her.

“It makes me feel privileged to be where I am today—to be able to do this through my years of education, as well as my ability to give pro bono of my time.”