With unprecedented access granted by the Cleveland Clinic, National Geographic dedicated more than two years exclusively documenting this groundbreaking scientific journey
Featured as the September issue cover story of National Geographic, this is a story about breakthrough science, human identity and hope
WASHINGTON August 14, 2018: - In a world that seems increasingly obsessed with image, National Geographic has today unveiled an exclusive and powerful new story, over two years in the making, that asks the question: Are we our faces?'
To follow the story of Katie Stubblefield, the youngest face transplant recipient in U.S. history, a team of National Geographic journalists was given unprecedented access by the Cleveland Clinic to document Katie's journey and detail a full-face transplant procedure in a way that has never before been done. The story is featured on the cover of the September 2018 edition of National Geographic and is available now at natgeo.com/face. National Geographic has also released a 22-minute documentary, Katie's New Face, here.
The Cleveland Clinic performed the full-face transplant over the course of a 31-hour procedure in 2017. Writer Joanna Connors, as well as photographers Maggie Steber and Lynn Johnson, together spent hundreds of hours with Katie, her parents and doctors over a period of more than two years, documenting Katie's story at the Cleveland Clinic, throughout many surgeries, and ongoing as she continues her recovery.
The Story of a Face' is about hope and resilience, identity, the power of a family's love and devotion to their daughter, and the medical miracle that gives Katie Stubblefield a second chance at life, said Susan Goldberg, Editorial Director of National Geographic Partners and Editor-in-Chief of National Geographic magazine. It is told with the unparalleled visual storytelling that National Geographic is known for and uniquely connects audiences to the deeply human story behind the science, thanks to the bravery of Katie and her family who gave us unfettered access to share their journey with the world. The result is an extraordinary look at a breakthrough scientific procedure that will make you question how you think about the relationship between outward appearance and our inner selves.
Katie's face transplant surgery was paid for by the U.S. Department of Defense through the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, in an effort to improve treatment for service members who are wounded in battle and come back with similar injuries. As such, Katie's face transplant surgery has made her a lifelong experiment for the treatment of ballistic trauma to the face.
Trauma to Katie's face occurred on March 25, 2014, when Katie was 18 years old, by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Katie received a full-face transplant starting May 4, 2017. Katie was 21 years old at that time, making her the youngest full-face transplant recipient in the United States.
Katie was on the transplant list for over a year before a donor was found. Adrea Schneider, a 31-year-old woman who had recently passed away, was a match. Her grandmother, Sandra Bennington, made the decision to donate Adrea's face to Katie. Adrea was a registered organ donor whose heart, lungs, kidneys and liver were also donated and saved lives across the United States.
In publishing The Story of a Face, National Geographic continues its tradition of bringing its audiences around the world incredible stories of science, exploration and the human journey in an up-close and personal way. In the last two years, National Geographic has explored the latest developments in the science behind addiction in response to the global opioid crisis; released a single-topic issue on the shifting landscape of gender that became a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting; and published The Race Issue, a controversial, yet timely exploration of what race means in the 21st century.
The Story of a Face, from the September 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine, is available online now at natgeo.com/face and on print newsstands August 28.
INFORMATION FOR PRESS:
Interviews and visuals available.
Story of a Face digital hub: natgeo.com/face
Direct link to full cover story, The Story of a Face : here
Direct link to full documentary: here
Link to Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg's Editor's Letter about the cover story: here
Link to b-roll of Editor-in-Chief Susan Goldberg discussing The Story of a Face : here
Link to list of available spokespeople and individual pieces of content: here
Link to September issue media alert: here
Link to social media toolkit: here
Link to teen suicide prevention resources: http://natgeo.com/katiespeaksup
PRESS CONTACTS:
Leah Jereb, Leah.Jereb@natgeo.com, 202-912-6716
Kelsey Taylor, Kelsey.Taylor@natgeo.com, 202-912-6776
National Geographic Partners LLC
National Geographic Partners LLC (NGP), a joint venture between National Geographic and 21st Century Fox, is committed to bringing the world premium science, adventure and exploration content across an unrivaled portfolio of media assets. NGP combines the global National Geographic television channels (National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo MUNDO, Nat Geo PEOPLE) with National Geographic's media and consumer-oriented assets, including National Geographic magazines; National Geographic studios; related digital and social media platforms; books; maps; children's media; and ancillary activities that include travel, global experiences and events, archival sales, licensing and e-commerce businesses. Furthering knowledge and understanding of our world has been the core purpose of National Geographic for 130 years, and now we are committed to going deeper, pushing boundaries, going further for our consumers and reachin
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
19/05/2026
Actus Digital, a LiveU company, and a leading provider of intelligent media monitoring and broadcast compliance platforms, announced today that METEO CONSULT ha...
19/05/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of managed services for the broadcast and media industry, today announced the completion of a major renovation of its Singapore fa...
19/05/2026
Following a major upgrade to its Connecticut remote production centre with the installation of three 60-fader Argo S consoles in 2023, RPS has switched one of t...
19/05/2026
PlayBox Technology today announced the launch of Celebro Play, a browser-based media orchestration platform designed specifically for broadcast facilities and p...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/05/2026
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions for broadcast, post, and professional AV will showcase its latest signal processing solutions at B...
19/05/2026
Media Links, a leading developer and manufacturer of IP media transport solutions, has announced the integration of its Xscend platform with Skyline Communicat...
19/05/2026
Collaboration expands regional partner ecosystem as Media Links showcases IP media transport solutions on stand 4M4-4 and alongside Clearcast Asia on stand
Me...
19/05/2026
Company Highlights Labor-Saving Control and Custom Branding Opportunities Designed to Increase Integrator Profitability
LynTec, a leading manufacturer of ele...
19/05/2026
Mago Studio Moves AI Video Beyond Prompts with New Production-Focused Tools
Brie Clayton May 18, 2026
0 Comments
New Capabilities Bring Controllable, ...
19/05/2026
It May be Time to Stop and Take an AI Breather
Brie Clayton May 19, 2026
0 Comments
If the rock you stay on starts to roll, jump clean. Or you'll...
18/05/2026
Despite a bumpy start to the year, the provider of event-production support and ...
18/05/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the University of North Carolina to manufacture and install 11 LED displays totaling more than 10,000 square feet and more than 14...
18/05/2026
CBS LA has announced a multi-year partnership with the Los Angeles Rams, covering exclusive local broadcasts of Rams preseason games, weekly year-round programm...
18/05/2026
Skyline Communications has announced an integration between its DataMiner xOps p...
18/05/2026
eCLUTCH, the hybrid esports platform powered by iKOMG, has announced an expansion of its distribution across Europe, MENA, Africa, and Asia, along with new cont...
18/05/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
18/05/2026
With 22 games this season, the production team looks forward to tweaking and enhancing the coverage
After 8,660 days off the air, the WNBA returned to NBC yest...
18/05/2026
(L-R) Midori Francis and Natalie Erika James attend the Saccharine premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 22, 2026, in ...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
Delta Goodrem shines for SBS as more than 3.27 million Australians tune in for E...
18/05/2026
The Australian Defence Force uses L3Harris T4 and T7 robots for explosive ordnan...
18/05/2026
Continued investment across Europe and Germany is expanding local teams and improving access to stock, regional expertise, and specialist broadcast support.
CV...
18/05/2026
Agentic AI inference at one-tenth the cost per token with NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL7...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
17/05/2026
Delta Goodrem's Eurovision Eclipse marks end of a stellar run
17 May, 2026
Media releases
Bulgaria wins Eurovision 2026
Relive every spellbinding mome...
17/05/2026
Back to All News
Oasis Premieres on Netflix June 19
Entertainment
17 May 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Summer, sunshine, the beach, parties. T...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
16/05/2026
Boris FX Continuum Pairs AI Precision and Advanced Creative Controls
Jessie Electa Petrov May 16, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic de...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
16/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
15/05/2026
Seattle Sounders FC and Seattle Reign FC, in partnership with RAVE Foundation an...
15/05/2026
Dan Brumm has served as sound designer on Bluey, the Australian children's t...
15/05/2026
The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated are accepting applications for the 6th annual Mark Brunner Professional Audio Schola...
With unprecedented access granted by the Cleveland Clinic, National Geographic dedicated more than two years exclusively documenting this groundbreaking scientific journey
