Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Michael Edwards, MD FACS
Chair

Pearl Ma, MD FACS ABOM DABS-FPMS
Co-Chair

Charles Thompson, MD FACS FASMBS
Co-Chair

Joe Northup, MD FASMBS
EC Liaison

ASMBS Staff Liaison

Jennifer Wynn

Members

Eric Ahnfeldt, DO
Ikemefuna Akusoba, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Folahan Ayoola, MD
Clinton Bolton, PhD
Kevin Brown, MD
Diego Camacho, MD
Camillia Trammell, CBN
Judy Chen, MD, FACS, ABOM, FASMBS
Tuesday Cook, MD FACS
Christopher Daigle, MD, FACS, FASMBS
D’Arcy Duke, MD, FASMBS
Titus Duncan, MD
Lauren Casey Flowers, MS, RD, LDN
Franchell Hamilton, MD, FASMBS
Sylvia Herbozo, PhD
January Hill, MD, FACS, dABOM, FASMBS
Kunoor Jain-Spangler, MD, FACS
Shaneeta Johnson, MD FACS
Crystal Johnson-Mann, MD
Shauna Levy, MD MS FACS
Robert Lim, MD
Rebecca Lopez, MD
Colin MacColl, MD
Karina McArthur, MD, FASMBS
Megan Ferrell, BSN, RN, CBN
Fernando Mier Giraud, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Janet Ng, PhD
Abdelrahman, Nimeri, MD, FACS
Sabrena Noria, MD, PhD
Ivanesa Pardo, MD FACS
Angel Reyes, MD, FACS, DABOM
Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD
Shireesh Saurabh, MD, FACS
Faiz Shariff, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Joon Shim, MD, FACS
Jessica Smith, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Nova Szoka, MD, FACS
Samuel Szomstein, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Loic Tchokouani, MD
Andre Teixeira, MD
Sergio Toledo Valdovinos, MD
Alice Wang, MD
Amy Yetasook, MD

Mission

To study and support the educational and professional needs of under-represented members, promote the acquisition of members from all ages, genders, and ethnicities, and increase access to care for our diverse patient population.

Objectives

  • Create a slate of members who reflect the target population of under-represented members and patients.
  • Identify gaps in addressing the needs of under-represented members and patients.
  • Create, design and implement projects that will support the mission of the DIC committee and of ASMBS
  • Engage membership and nonmembers to encourage involvement and participation in ASMBS

Committee Goals

  • Create a session on diversity and inclusion for The ASMBS Annual Meeting 2021
  • Build relationships with community partners to outreach patient populations who traditionally under-utilize bariatric surgery
  • Liaise with Access to Care Committee to work on ensuring all patients have access to bariatric surgery
  • Liaise with Membership Committee on increasing the current 9% female membership
  • Work on initiatives (incorporating social media) to recruit young members for mentorship and support
  • Partner with the Program Committee to build a speaker list for the Annual Meeting
  • Build a centrally housed speaker list that can be utilized while planning meetings for the ASMBS
  • Present a webinar series on Diversity and Inclusion for CME
  • Complete a diversity study on the ASMBS membership to ensure the ladder to leadership is fair and transparent

2020 Completed Projects

  • Created #ASMBSisMe and shared a video campaign across social media platforms to increase ASMBS committee awareness and bolster inclusivity
  • Updated Ethnicity Profile on ASMBS Database to be more inclusive of race, ethnicity and gender identification
  • Assigned liaisons to other ASMBS committees to ensure diversity and inclusivity were on the forefront of decision making

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