Dr. Schauer earned his medical degree at Baylor College of Medicine and completed his residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio. He is Professor of Metabolic Surgery and Director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Initiative at Pennington Biomedical Research Institute of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is formerly Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. He is past president of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). He is former Chair and founder of Obesity Week (2012-present) and Co-Chair of the Diabetes Surgery Summit (2007, 2015, 2019). Dr. Schauer's clinical interests include obesity, diabetes and metabolic surgery. He has performed more than 8,000 operations for severe obesity and diabetes. His research interests include the pathophysiology of obesity and type 2 diabetes, and outcomes of metabolic surgery.

He has authored more than 350 scientific papers, 60 textbook chapters, and 3 textbooks related to obesity, bariatricirneta bolic surgery and gastrointestinal surgery with more than 20,000 citations. He is past chairman of the Bariatric Surgery Section of The Obesity Society (TOS). He has been a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Obesity, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and Obesity Surgery as well as 3 other scientific journals. He has been an invited speaker for more than 200 international lectures on the subject of metabolic surgery. He is the founder of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Symposium (MISS) now in its 20th year.

Francesco Rubino is Professor of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at King’s College London and a consultant surgeon at King’s College Hospital. His clinical expertise includes laparoscopic bariatric, metabolic and upper digestive surgery. His research interests focus on mechanisms of action of gastrointestinal surgery and the role of the gut in type 2 diabetes and mechanisms of weight regulation.

Prof. Rubino’s studies in rodents provided the first experimental evidence of weight-independent effects of GI surgery on glucose metabolism and distinct anti-diabetic effects of the exclusion of the duodenum from nutrient transit. These findings offered a biological rationale for re-purposing gastrointestinal and bariatric operations as a treatment for type 2 diabetes - a surgical discipline now referred to as “Metabolic Surgery”. Results of his studies and theories have inspired novel biotech approaches that target intestinal mechanisms for the development of pharmacological and device-based interventions for obesity and diabetes.

He has served as the P.I. and Co-P.I. of randomized clinical trials comparing surgery vs conventional lifestyle/medical therapy for type 2 diabetes (New England J Med 2012; Lancet 2015, Lancet 2021), contributing to the establishment of level-1 clinical evidence in support of diabetes surgery. He is currently the international Co-PI of CoviDIAB, an international project that investigates Covid-19-related diabetes.

Dr Rubino was the main organizer and co-director of the Diabetes Surgery Summit, a series of consensus conferences that developed global clinical guidelines for surgical treatment of diabetes now endorsed by over 56 scientific societies worldwide. These guidelines have changed insurance coverage of metabolic surgery in various countries including Korea, Switzerland, Brasil, UK and USA among others.

He also led a consensus conference on the stigma of obesity, resulting in a joint international consensus statement (Nature Medicine, March 2020) and “Pledge to eradicate Obesity Stigma” now endorsed by over 600 organizations, institutions, scientific journals, industries and individual scientists/clinicians.

Prof Rubino received his MD and completed his residency in general surgery at the Catholic University/Policlinico Gemelli in Rome, Italy. He completed fellowships in laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery at the European Institute of Telesurgery in Strasbourg, France, Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 2013, he was appointed Professor of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery at King’s College London, as the Institution established the world’s first academic chair in this surgical specialty. Before joining King’s he was Chief of Gastrointestinal Metabolic Surgery and Director of the Diabetes Surgery Center at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, USA.

He is the author and co-author of numerous scientific publications, has given hundreds of presentations at major scientific conferences and has received numerous awards, including most recently the Surgical Innovator Award by the American Association for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). In 2009 Crain’s Magazine included Dr Rubino in their “40 under 40”as one of the most influential leaders in the City of New York under the age of 40.

Lilian Kow is the Clinical Director of GI surgery at Flinders Medical Centre and Clinical Associate Professor at the College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University in South Australia. She has been involved in training surgeons in bariatric surgery nationally and internationally.

Lilian is a co-founder/Director of the Adelaide Bariatric Centre, which was established in 1995 as the first obesity surgical clinic in Adelaide.

She is the President IFSO and the Past President of IFSO-APC and ANZMOSS Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgical Society

Lilian has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees and a PhD degree in Neuroscience from Flinders University of South Australia and a Fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

Lilian is a keen researcher with over 100 peer reviewed publications and she sits on the Editorial Board of several journals. In addition, she is the Vice-President and Executive member for Australian Chinese Medical Association (SA).

Director of the Center for the treatment of Obesity and Diabetes at Oswaldo Cruz German Hospital, Sao Paulo, Brasil

Past President- IFSO Latin American Chapter

Past President - Brazilian Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery

David E. Cummings, MD, FASMBS is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington, based at the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute and the V.A. Puget Sound Health Care System, where he is Director of the Weight Management Clinic and Program. He studies the endocrine regulation of appetite, body weight, and glucose homeostasis. A major current focus of his research is to elucidate hormonal/metabolic mechanisms mediating the profound effects of bariatric/metabolic surgery on diabetes and body weight, as well as to determine the role of surgery in diabetes care through randomized clinical trials. He also seeks to clarify the physiologic functions of the orexigenic hormone ghrelin.

Dr. Cummings graduated summa cum laude from Dartmouth College, receiving Highest Distinction in his major of Biochemistry. He obtained his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers – the highest award conferred by the U.S. government to researchers in their early independent careers. It was given at the White House by the President and included seven years of additional research funding. Dr. Cummings has also received the 1996 Ethan Simms Young Investigator Award from The Obesity Society, the 2001 Philip J. Fialkow Scholar Award from the University of Washington, the 2006 Outstanding Investigator Award from the Western Society for Clinical Investigation, honorary membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation since 2006, the Endocrine Society’s 2009 Pfizer International Award, a 2010 honorary Pfizer Visiting Professorship, the 2016 Vivian Fonseca Scholar Award from the American Diabetes Association, the 2017 Honorary Lifetime Fellow appointment from the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (the first non-surgeon ever to receive this), an honorary professorship awarded in 2017 from Sri Aurobindo Medical College & Postgraduate Institute in India, and the 2018 Spitzer Award from Louisiana State University.

Dr. Cummings and his research have been widely featured in the media, including on 60 Minutes, Good Morning America, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report, NPR, the BBC, and many others. He has presented his work to the United States Congress, at universities throughout the world, and to the Nobel Committee in Medicine and Physiology on two separate occasions at Nobel Symposia in Stockholm.

Dr. John Kirwan is Executive Director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and holds the George A. Bray, Jr. Endowed Super Chair in Nutrition. He also leads the Integrated Physiology and Molecular Metabolism Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical and is the Director/Principal Investigator of the Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center.

Before joining Penning Biomedical in January 2018, Dr. Kirwan served as Director of the Metabolic Translational Research Center and Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He was also a Professor of Nutrition, and of Physiology & Biophysics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland.

Dr. Kirwan’s professional expertise includes 30 years of research, teaching, and service in the obesity and diabetes fields. He received his clinical physiology training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, his PhD in Human Bioenergetics at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, his MSc in Exercise Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, and his BA (Hons) from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Dr. Kirwan leads an internationally acclaimed biomedical research program focused on diabetes, obesity, nutrition, and exercise. He is currently PI or Co-Investigator on 10 NIH grants, and to date he has generated over $50m in research funding most which has come from the US National Institutes of Health, and the food, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries. He has published over 250 scientific papers related to metabolism and nutrition in prestigious peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, American J. Clinical Nutrition, Diabetes and Diabetes Care. Among his most important research contributions is the discovery that for a significant number of patients, diabetes can be cured by surgically altering the physiology of the intestine and stomach.

He is married to his wonderful, brilliant, beautiful wife April, has 4 fantastic children, and plays “Dad” to a lovable mutt named Bailey!

Professor Carel le Roux graduated from medical school in Pretoria South Africa, completed his specialist training in metabolic medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospitals and the Hammersmith Hospitals. He obtained his PhD from Imperial College London where he later took up a faculty position. He moved to University College Dublin for the Chair in Experimental Pathology and he is now a Director of the Metabolic Medicine Group. He also holds the position of Professor of Metabolic Medicine at Ulster University. He currently coordinates an Innovative Medicine Initiative project on obesity. He previously received a President of Ireland Young Researcher Award, Irish Research Council Laurate Award, Clinician Scientist Award from the National Institute Health Research in the UK, and a Welcome Trust Clinical Research Fellowship for his work on how the gut talks to the brain.

Consultant Gastrointestinal/Bariatric Surgeon & Honorary Senior Lecturer

Chelsea & Westminster Hospital & Imperial College

London, United Kingdom

Co-Founder: International Bariatric Club (IBC)

Founder & Director: IBC Oxford University World Congress

Christ Church, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

Surgical Specialisation

Bariatric Surgery & Endoscopy (Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, revisional bariatric surgery, gastric banding, intragastric balloon insertion)

Laparoscopic complex foregut and biliary surgery

Clinical Teacher in Surgery

Imperial College London Medical School, United Kingdom

Liverpool University Medical School, United Kingdom

University of Oxford Medical School, United Kingdom

Advisory Experience

Specialist Advisor General/Bariatric Surgery

National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)

London, United Kingdom

Research

DPhil (PhD) Christ Church, University of Oxford, United Kingdom 2006

BSc University of London, United Kingdom 1994

70 national and international research presentations

130 invited presentations.

35 publications

6 book chapters in the field of bariatric and metabolic surgery

Former Reviewer for:

Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD)

British Medical Journal (BMJ) Case Reports

Surgical Training

Fellowship in Minimally Invasive/Bariatric Surgery

Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, United States 2009-10

Phoenix Health, Liverpool, United Kingdom 2011-12

Surgical ResidencyChelsea & Westminster Northwest London Senior Residency & Oxford Junior Residency Programmes, United Kingdom

Education

Clinical Medicine (MD, DPhil)

Christ Church, University of Oxford & Royal Free Hospital, University of London, United Kingdom

Proxime Accessit to the 1997 University Gold Medal

Awards, Scholarships, Distinctions, Merits (Postgraduate and Undergraduate)

2017

Mersey (Liverpool) Deanery Surgery Trainer of the Year Award

2009

B Braun Aesculap Scholarship

Ethicon Endosurgery Travel Scholarship

2004

Christ Church, University of Oxford DPhil Award

John Radcliffe, Oxford Medical Research Fund DPhil Award

British Heart Foundation PhD Award

Royal College of Surgeons of England Award

2003

Christ Church, University of Oxford DPhil Award

John Radcliffe, Oxford Medical Research Fund DPhil Award

British Heart Foundation PhD Award

Royal College of Surgeons of England Award

2001

Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship Award

British Heart Foundation PhD Studentship Award

1992-97

Proxime Accessit to the University Gold Medal

Distinctions in Finals: Surgery, Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology, Pathology

Emlyn Williams Prize & Gant Medal in Surgery

Natalie Bogdan Prize & Medal in Medicine

Glynn Morgan Prize & Medal in Cardiology & Chest Medicine

Kenneth Hill Memorial Prize & Medal in Pathology

Bunzl Prize & Medal in Psychiatry

Esther Francis White Memorial Prize - For Distinctions in Finals

Sarkany Prize in Dermatology

Helen Webb Prize in Children’s Diseases

London Lock Hospital Memorial Prize in Venereal Diseases

Certificate of Merit in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Wilfred Francis White Prize in Neurology

Glaxo Wellcome/Blackwell Science Prize- Performance in First Clinical Year

Wolfson Foundation BSc Award

BSc Immunopathology Prize

Mrs. George M. Smith Prize in Second Year Subjects

Walter Culverwell Prize in Anatomy

Edward & Helen Hanson Prizes in Physiology

Lord Rank Prize in Biochemistry

Edith Pechey Phipson Prize in Pharmacology

Certificate of Merit in Pathology

Certificate of Merit in Psychology

Mabel Sharman Crawford Scholarship for Performance in First Year Richard Keene Prize in First Year Subjects

Winifred Ladds Prize in Physiology

Annie E. Brooks Prize in
Biochemistry

Certificate of Merit in Anatomy

I hold the position of Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University in Rome and I am Chief of the Division of Obesity and Related Disorders at the University Hospital Fondazione Policlinico A. Gemelli IRCCS in Rome. I have also a part-time position as Professor of Diabetes and Nutrition at the King’s College London since 2015. I have written more than 360 peer-reviewed publications, published in high ranked, international journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, J Clin Invest, BMJ, Diabetes Care, Diabetes, Diabetologia, Am J Physiol, etc., with a global citation index of 55 (Scopus).

Former Expert Member at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the nutrition panel

Executive Director of the EUROPEAN CHAPTER of the AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NUTRITION until 2010

Member of the Board of Directors of the American College of Nutrition.

Chair of the Study-Group on Metabolic Surgery of the EASD.

I am working actively to study the mechanisms of remission of type 2 diabetes after metabolic surgery. Moreover, moving from my interest and thanks to modern facilities allocated in my Catholic University’s centre, I have contributed to the research on insulin resistance with infusion of stable isotopes, body composition measurements with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), and 24h energy expenditure measurements using indirect calorimetric systems including the Calorimetric Chamber.

As an expert, I took part in the EASD/ADA treatment guidelines of type 2 diabetes, published in 2018 and 2020 in Diabetes Care and in Diabetologia.

On the clinical side, I follow in my private practice more than 500 patients per year, while as Director of the Obesity centre at the Catholic University in Rome that includes inpatient division, Day Hospital and outpatient clinics, we follow about 4000 patients with obesity and/or type 2 diabetes, half of them undergoing bariatric/metabolic surgery.