Obesity is recognized today as a crippling disease and one of the world’s most devastation public health problems, a fact reflected in the title of Cleveland Clinic’s 12^th Annual Obesity Summit, “New Strategies for Diabetes, Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease Management,” Sept. 28 and 29.

“The Summit has evolved to reflect what research and clinical experience has shown us, that obesity is really the major driver in diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” says Summit Director Philip R. Schauer, MD, Director of Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery in Cleveland Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute.

Joining forces with the National Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute

The Summit is evolving in other ways, too, with the expansion this year to two locations — Cleveland and Biloxi, Mississippi, where Cleveland Clinic is collaborating with the National Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute. Some of the Summit presenters will be speaking from Cleveland, some from Biloxi, and the two centers will be linked by audio-visual teleconferencing.

That’s not by accident, Dr. Schauer says. According to 2016 data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Mississippi ranks third in the country in obesity, with 36.4 percent of its citizens classified as obese (defined as a BMI of 30 or more). Ohio has improved in recent years, but is still ranked 26^th, with 29.8 percent of Ohioans meeting criteria for obesity.

Highlighting this year’s Summit will be addresses by Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Toby Cosgrove, MD, and Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. The Summit will bring together leaders in all the major treatment modalities for obesity: pharmacologic management, behavioral and lifestyle modification, and surgery.

Here are some highlights:

• The Role of Leptin in Obesity. Rudolph Leibel, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Molecular Genetics and the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University, has pioneered the study of leptin, an adipose-derived hormone responsible for regulating body weight.
• Health Economics of Obesity: Cost Effective Programs. William H. Herman, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of Michigan, will explain how obesity and diabetes are expensive drivers of healthcare costs, and will describe innovative cost-effective programs for managing and treating obesity and diabetes.
• New Obesity Drugs. Caroline Apovian, MD, of Boston University and the president-elect of the Obesity Society, will discuss the FDA-approved pharmacologic agents for obesity and how to use them clinically, as well as the importance of Metformin in treatment of diabetes.
• Live Surgery Transmission. Bariatric surgery is probably the most rapidly advancing area of obesity treatment. A popular regular feature of the Summit in recent years, this live surgery will feature Cleveland Clinic surgeons Ali Aminian, MD, Stacy A. Brethauer, MD, Matthew Kroh, MD, and John Rodriguez, MD, performing real-time bariatric surgery via video teleconferencing
• Breakout workshops on cooking and lifestyle. This fun feature includes “Culinary Medicine: Love the Food that Loves You Back and Shared Medical Appointments,” led by James Perko Sr., Executive Chef for Cleveland Clinic Wellness and the Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, and Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, Medical Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine.

Says, Dr. Schauer, “Physicians and other health professionals who want a concise update on scientific advances in understanding the pathophysiology of obesity as well as practical, evidence-based treatment strategies for managing obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease from leading scientists and clinicians — this is the conference for you.”

The 12^th Annual Obesity Summit is Sept. 28 and 29, 2017, at the InterContinental Hotel on the Cleveland Clinic Campus and at Hospitality Management Center of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, in Biloxi, Mississippi. 

Follow us on Twitter before and during the Summit, #obesity17

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