Bountiful man named Utah Doctor of the Year

Daniel Sellers loves the artistry and variety of plastic surgery.

“I work on every part of the body, from the toes to the top of the head, inside and out,” says the Bountiful doctor. “I’ll take a toe and make a thumb out of it.”

And he switches from remodeling Utah bodies — giving them bigger breasts and tighter tummies — to fixing children’s facial deformities around the world through Operation Smile.

For his work, Sellers has been named the Utah Doctor of the Year by the Utah Medical Association.

Sellers, 57, has been on more than 20 Operation Smile missions to fix cleft lips and cleft palates. His first mission was in 1988 in Kenya and he recently led a mission to India. He said that for the past two decades, he has spent at least two weeks a year volunteering.

“Their life is dictated by the hole in their face,” he said. “Within an hour for most patients, I can completely change their life. … You fix that child, you fix their family. You fix their community.”

Sellers was nominated for the award by the Davis County Medical Alliance, which also praised his work leading local medical societies.

“Most people don’t realize all the things that he does,” said Jayne Edgren Taylor, on the Davis County Medical Alliance’s nominating committee.

Sellers and his wife, Marian, participate in the Komen Race for the Cure to raise money to fight for breast cancer. Marian had cancer eight years ago.

The two also sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They have four children and 10 grandchildren.

Sellers used to work on trauma patients at LDS Hospital, but now he specializes mainly in hand and cosmetic surgery. He owns Sellers Plastic Surgery in Bountiful.

“I’ve made a niche for myself doing major body reconstructions for people who lost a lot of weight or they’ve finished with their families and kind of need to put themselves back together,” he said. “It’s kind of miraculous.”