Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Professor Philip R. Schauer
Dr. Philip Schauer is Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Chief of Minimally Invasive General Surgery and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Bariatric and Metabolic Institute (BMI). He is past president of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). He is co-chair of Obesity Week, the worlds largest annual meeting devoted to the science and treatment of Obesity starting November 2013.
After receiving his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Schauer completed his residency in surgery at The University of Texas, where he served as chief resident of general surgery. He then completed his fellowship in laparoscopic surgery at Duke University Medical Center. Prior to joining The Cleveland Clinic in 2004, Dr. Schauer served as director of endoscopic surgery, director of bariatric surgery and Director of the Mark Ravitch/Leon Hirsch Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Dr. Schauer's clinical interests include surgery for severe obesity, minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic), and gastrointestinal surgery. He has performed more than 5000 operations for severe obesity. His research interests include the pathophysiology of obesity and related diseases, physiologic effects of laparoscopic surgery on postoperative injury and recovery, and outcomes of laparoscopic management of obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and hernias. He has also participated in the development of new minimally invasive, endoscopic, and laparoscopic operations. New concepts in surgical training and education have been a major focus of his educational interests.
He has authored more than 200 scientific papers, editorials, textbook chapters, and video productions. He is editor of the textbook Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery. He has been an invited speaker for more than 100 regional, national and international lectures on the subject of obesity surgery and laparoscopic surgery. He is principal investigator of the STAMPEDE trail comparing medical and surgical treatment of diabetes and 2 NIH funded studies evaluating surgical treatment of diabetes and obesity. He is past chairman of the research and training and credentialing committees of ASMBS. He is current chairman of the Bariatric Surgery Section of the Obesity Society. He has been on the board of Governors of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons. He is also a member of International Federation of Surgery for Obesity, the American Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Central Surgical Society, and the Society of Clinical Surgery. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Fellowship Council and past member of the American Board of Surgery Advisory Council. He is on the editorial board of Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and Obesity Surgery as well as 3 other medical journals. He has been director of more than 100 courses and workshops on advanced laparoscopic surgery and has trained more than 40 fellows in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery.
Professor John McNeil AM, MBBS, MSc, PhD, FRACP, FAFPHM
Professor McNeil graduated in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1971 and undertook physician training at the Royal Adelaide and Austin Hospitals. He subsequently completed his PhD in clinical pharmacology at the University of Melbourne and a Master of Science in epidemiology at the University of London.
In 1986 he was appointed to the head of the Monash Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine based at the Alfred Hospital. In 2007 he was appointed as the inaugural Head of the newly formed Monash School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. He has served as a visiting physician at the Alfred & Austin Hospitals and the Monash Medical Centre.
Professor McNeil’s principal interests include cardiovascular epidemiology, public health, drug safety and toxicology. He has served on advisory committees for many State and Commonwealth entities including the NHMRC, Therapeutic Goods Administration, Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, National Blood Authority, National Food Authority, Australian Commission for Safety & Quality in Healthcare and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
He is currently a member of the Board of Austin Health, The Colonial Foundation and the Orygen Youth Health Research Centre. Past board memberships include Alfred Health, Dunlop Medical Research Foundation, Water Quality Research Australia and the Victorian Public Health Education & Research Foundation. He is currently the Scientific Secretary of the International Society of Cardiovascular Pharmacology.
In 2008 he became a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his contribution to Public Health.
Professor Michael Cowley
Professor Cowley is an internationally recognised physiologist with a strong focus on developing drugs to treat obesity, diabetes and metabolic disorders. Professor Cowley has over 15 years experience in research and biopharmaceutical drug development. Prior to taking up the position of Director for the Monash Obesity & Diabetes Institute, Professor Cowley was the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the biopharmaceutical firm Orexigen Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: OREX), which he took public in April 2007, raising US$ 255M to fund this drug development program. Previous positions held by Professor Cowley include Core Director, and Associate Scientist at Oregon Health & Sciences University. He is also the inventor of intellectual property that led to the foundation of Thiakis Inc, and validated the obesity drug target Serotonin 2C receptor, now under development by Arena Pharmaceuticals and others.
Professor Cowley has published more than 60 papers and is the inventor of 89 patents related to obesity, diabetes and the role of the CNS in metabolic disorders. In 2009, Prof. Cowley was awarded the prestigious Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year and the Pfizer Australia Senior Research Fellowship. He was the recipient of a Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge, and Innovation (VESKI) Fellowship in 2008.
Associate Professor David Dunstan PhD
Associate Professor Dunstan is a VicHealth Public Health Research Fellow and is the Head of the Physical Activity laboratory in the Division of Metabolism and Obesity at the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute.
His research focuses on the role of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the prevention and management of chronic diseases. His research program has attracted considerable external funding from the NHMRC, VicHealth and the National Heart Foundation and he has been an invited speaker at international conferences, including the American Diabetes Association.
A/Prof Dunstan leads a collaboration consisting of key researchers in the field of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health to analyse the lifestyle risk factor data collected from the Australian Diabetes Obesity and Lifestyle (AusDiab) study.
He is also the creator of the purposefully developed physical activity program titled ‘Lift for Life®’, which has been designed to facilitate widespread uptake of strength training in community facilities such as gyms and community health centres.
In 2007, he was awarded a prestigious young Tall Poppy Science award (Victoria) from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science which recognises the achievements of Australia’s outstanding young scientific researchers.
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