Q: Do you think the weight loss medications may negate the need for surgery?
I don’t think they necessarily reduce the need for surgery. There’s still a lot we don’t know about why they work in some patients and why they don’t work in others.
Some of our colleagues have come up with phenotypes and blood tests so we can better understand which things will work in different patients. Surgery doesn’t work for some patients. People may need a combination of both after they reach a plateau. I’m excited that people see this as something that we should be researching and putting more effort into — that obesity isn’t a disease of moral failure, that people with excess weight just need to ‘move more’ or ‘eat less’ and it’s their fault. I’m glad people are starting to understand that.
Q: What teacher or mentor had the greatest impact on you?
Probably two. One of them is Andrea E Reid, MD, MPH, a dean of medicine at Harvard. She gives you such motivation to achieve things, no matter how big your idea is or how crazy it may seem. If you have something that you think is important, you go after it. Another person is Christopher C. Thompson, MD, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the father of bariatric endoscopy in a sense. He embodies what Dr. Reid talks about: crazy big ideas. And he goes after them and he succeeds. Having him push me and giving me that type of encouragement was invaluable.
Q: Describe how you would spend a free Saturday afternoon.
Every Saturday is yoga or some type of movement. Spending some time outside doing something, whether it’s messing around with plants that I’m not very good at, or going for a walk.
Lightning Round
Texting or talking?
Text
Favorite city in U.S. besides the one you live in?
New York
Favorite breakfast?
Avocado toast
Place you most want to travel to?
Istanbul
Favorite season?
Fall
Favorite ice cream flavor?
Raspberry sorbet
How many cups of coffee do you drink per day?
One
Best place you ever went on vacation?
Greece
If you weren’t a gastroenterologist, what would you be?
Own a clothing store
Favorite type of music?
Old school R&B
Favorite movie genre?
Romantic comedy or drama
Cat person or dog person?
Dog
Favorite sport?
Football
Favorite holiday?
Christmas
Optimist or pessimist?
Optimist
