Foregut and Metabolic Surgery Committee

ASMBS Staff Partners

Marissa Altenburg, MA, CCSP

Members

TBA

Charge

The Committee is charged with:

• Developing educational and scientific initiatives that integrate foregut and metabolic surgery principles to improve patient outcomes.
• Building and maintaining collaborative relationships with peer societies, including the American Foregut Society (AFS) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES).
• Identifying emerging technologies, techniques, and best practices that enhance care for patients with both metabolic and foregut disorders.
• Supporting ASMBS membership expansion by engaging foregut surgeons and endoscopists interested in obesity and metabolic disease management.
• Producing educational modules, or publications that promote safe, evidence-based foregut practice within bariatric and metabolic surgery.
• Aligning all committee projects with the ASMBS Strategic Plan and submitting annual deliverables and outcomes to the Board Executive Committee (BEC) for review.

Description

In alignment with the ASMBS mission to reduce the global burden of obesity and its related diseases, the committee is charged with advancing collaboration, education, and research at the intersection of foregut and metabolic surgery. Serving as the central forum for bridging these complementary fields, the Committee promotes innovation, best practices, and cross-societal engagement with organizations such as the American Foregut Society (AFS) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). The FMSIC aims to rebuild trust, direction, and productivity by emphasizing evidence-driven initiatives, mentorship, and partnership development that foster cohesive, high-impact work rather than isolated or redundant efforts.

Objectives

• Integration: Promote the seamless integration of foregut and metabolic surgical practices to improve clinical care and multidisciplinary collaboration.
• Education: Develop co-branded educational programs, webinars, or sessions in collaboration with AFS and SAGES to foster shared learning. Keeping ASMBS as the lead organization.
• Membership Growth: Create targeted outreach strategies to attract and engage foregut surgeons, including membership pathways and mentorship opportunities.
• Research & Innovation: Identify and prioritize key research gaps in foregut/metabolic surgery.
• Guideline Development: Produce evidence-based resources or best-practice guidelines for common foregut pathologies in the bariatric population (e.g., GERD, hiatal hernia, esophageal motility disorders).
• Mentorship & Leadership Pipeline: Establish mentorship tracks to engage early-career foregut surgeons and support leadership development within ASMBS.

Goals

• TBA