ASMBS Leadership Academy

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Teresa LaMasters, MD FACS FASMBS DABOM

ASMBS President

Dr. LaMasters received her medical degree from the University of South Dakota School of Medicine in 2001. She completed her residency in General Surgery at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita in 2006. She then went on to complete advanced training with a fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery with an emphasis in Bariatric and Robotic Surgery in 2007 at Stanford University in California. She joined the UnityPoint Clinic Weight Loss Specialists in August of 2007. She is the Medical Director of the UnityPoint Clinic Weight Loss Specialists in West Des Moines Iowa and leads a comprehensive team providing both medical and surgical treatment for people with the disease of obesity.

Shanu Kothari, MD FACS FASMBS

ASMBS Past President

Dr. Kothari served as the President of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery from 2021-2022. He is the Jean and H. Harlan Stone Endowed Chair of Surgery at Prisma Health in Greenville, SC. He is a Professor of Surgery at the University of South Carolina, Greenville. Prior to this he was in practice for 18 years at the Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse, WI. Dr. Kothari has authored over 130 publications in peer-reviewed journals, 18 book chapters, and has served as the senior editor of the 2011 and 2021 Surgical Clinics of North America issues dedicated to Metabolic and Bariatric surgery. He is currently the President of the Southwestern Surgical Congress and 1st Vice President of the Fellowship Council.

Matt Hutter, MD MBA MPH

ASMBS Senior Past President

Dr. Hutter is a general and gastrointestinal surgeon at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where his clinical work focuses on advanced laparoscopic, foregut and bariatric surgery. He is a Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He earned a Master’s in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health and a Master’s in Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is the Director of the Codman Center for Clinical Effectiveness in Surgery and has been the Director of the MGH Weight Center for the past 7 years. He also serves as an executive director of the MGH Department of Surgery Quality and Safety Program.

Folahan Ayoola, MD FACS FASMBS

Dr. Ayoola practices at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Flower Mound, Medical City Frisco, and Baylor Trophy Club. He is the Medical Director of Weight Loss Specialists of North Texas and the Bariatric Surgery program at Texas Health in Flower Mound. He serves on multiple steering committees at Medical City Frisco. Dr. Ayoola is a speaker for multiple weight-loss pharmaceutical companies – educating physicians on the safe and efficacious use of these drugs. As an expert in the field, Dr. Ayoola also proctors and trains physicians interested in using the Da Vinci robotic platform for precise and safe robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Ayoola is board certified in General Surgery with Fellowship Training in Bariatric and Minimally Invasive Surgery

Shaniece Criss, ScD MPH MPA

Dr. Shaniece Criss is a health science faculty member at Furman University and a community-engaged qualitative researcher. As a founding member of the Big Data for Health Equity Research Collaborative, she works with university researchers from across the U.S. to investigate how societal issues impact health. With a passion for implementing effective interventions and policies, she earned her doctorate from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where she was awarded a Presidential Public Service Fellowship. As a public health practitioner, she served as producer and host for a national television show for the Ministry of Health in Guyana during her Peace Corps service. Dr. Criss also held positions at ICF International, Centers for Disease Control, and CNN.

Neil Ihde, BA MA

Opening Keynote

Neil Ihde is a speaker, lecturer, consultant and founder of Life IQ where he motivates groups and individuals to work, play, relate and live intelligently. He has worked with numerous managers, directors, corporate leaders, and teams to improve their personal and professional effectiveness. Neil has worked with over 25 Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, Discover Card, Domino’s, Transamerica, GE among others. Neil has also consulted internationally with clients from a dozen countries. He is a TEDx speaker and his Life IQ YouTube channel recently eclipsed a half-million views. Neil’s academic background includes a B.A. in Psychology, a B.A. in Sociology, and a MA in Counseling. Neil and his wife Deb have two children and live in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Matt Norvell, DMin MS BCC

Rev. Matt Norvell is a Pediatric Chaplain and Clinical Manager in the Department of Spiritual Care at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is a Board Certified Chaplain through the Association of Professional Chaplains and is a Certified Counselor through the National Board of Certified Counselors. Matt currently leads the Children’s Center Annual Tribute Service, serves on the hospital Diversity Council, and is the education chair for the Johns Hopkins Hospital ethics committee. He provides leadership support for the Johns Hopkins Hospital RISE (Resilience In Stressful Events) Team. Matt is one of the co-developers and presenters of the Caring for the Caregiver curriculum which assists other health care institutions to establish their own peer support programs.

John Scott, MD FASMBS

Dr. Scott is a Clinical Professor of Surgery with the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville and the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Director for the bariatric surgical program of Prisma Health. He also serves as the Chief for the Division of Minimal Access and Bariatric Surgery for the Prisma Health Department of Surgery, the assistant program director for Prisma Health Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) fellowship program, and the medical director for Nutrition Solutions. The scope of his research has centered new technology and comorbidity reduction as well as studies on access to bariatric care. He is currently on the board of directors for the ObesityPAC. Dr. Scott is board-certified in General Surgery by the American Board of Surgery and active in the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Southeastern Surgical Congress, and ASMBS. He is a fellow of the ACS and the ASMBS.