Council

Council of Management members

Vinod Menon

BOMSS President, Trustee, Council member
Lead Consultant Bariatric & Metabolic Surgeon
University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire

Biography

Mr Vinod Menon is a Consultant Bariatric & Metabolic Surgeon at the University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, UK. He also specialises in Upper Gastrointestinal cancer and benign laparoscopic surgery as well as robotic surgery. He is Honorary Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Warwick. Mr Menon served as Clinical Director of surgical services for 11 years and currently leads bariatric & metabolic surgical services at UHCW.

Mr Menon is currently President (2021-2023) of British Obesity & Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS), having been en elected member of Council since 2012, previously served as Treasurer and Honorary Secretary. He is the section editor (Bariatrics) of the Oxford Textbook of General Surgery and Section Editor Springer Textbook of Bariatric Surgery. Mr Menon is also Clinical Chair at BMI Meriden Hospital & Director of West Midlands Surgical Training Centre, one of the best cadaveric training facilities in the UK.

He is very passionate about India – UK collaboration in the health sector and played a key role in setting up the Apex Trauma & Emergency learning Centre (AT & ELC) in Kerala, India in addition to being actively involved in establishing Kerala Institute of Minimal Access Training (KIMAT).

Mr Menon is committed to giving patients access to the best possible care in the safest environment. He offers safe and effective bariatric/metabolic surgery and is dedicated to empowering people affected by severe and complex obesity. He is engaged in improving access to surgical treatment for such patients, expanding training to professionals involved in their care and forging collaborations with similar societies around the world.

James Byrne

BOMSS Secretary, Trustee, Council member
Consultant Surgeon
University Hospital Southampton

Biography

Jim Byrne is a consultant Surgeon at University Hospital Southampton since 2003 and Honorary Principal Research Fellow at the university of Southampton. After qualifying at Manchester he trained in the North West of England and Brisbane, Australia.

Jim served as BOMSS treasurer and member of the National bariatric surgery Registry committee from 2017 -2020 and was elected BOMSS Secretary in 2021.

Jim is a bariatric and oesophagogastric cancer surgeon, and is committed to developing the evidence base for surgical treatment of patients with severe and complex obesity. He is a member of the trial management group for BYBAND Sleeve, a £4.2M multicentre randomised clinical trial comparing the outcomes of gastric banding, sleeve and bypass across 12 UK centres in over 1300 UK patients, that is due to report in 2022. He has also helped lead a £2.4M randomised trial of the Endobarrier. He is Surgery lead for Wessex NIHR clinical research network.

Jim is honoured to serve as BOMSS secretary and Trustee and is passionate about supporting the vision, mission and values of BOMSS as the newly independent professional body serving the needs of patients suffering with severe and complex obesity across the UK.

Ahmed Ahmed

BOMSS Treasurer, Trustee, Council member, Endoscopy Committee
Consultant in upper gastrointestinal surgery and Lead Bariatric Surgeon
Imperial Weight Centre

Biography

Mr Ahmed Ahmed is a consultant in upper gastrointestinal surgery and lead bariatric surgeon at Imperial Weight Centre. He has performed over 10,000 laparoscopic bariatric procedures, including over 7,000 gastric bypasses. He has trained in general and upper GI surgery in the UK and also at Stanford University and the University of Rochester in the US. He trains other surgeons in the field of bariatric surgery and is on the faculty of numerous courses on bariatric surgery. He is also actively involved in bariatric surgery research and has numerous publications in peer reviewed journals. He is a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), International Federation of Surgery for Obesity (IFSO), Society of American Gastroenterological and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Association of Upper GI Surgeons (AUGIS) and the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS). In 2007, he was awarded the International Federation of Surgery for Obesity (IFSO) scholarship. Mr Ahmed is often consulted by other professionals and medicolegal experts for his opinions on complex bariatric surgery cases. His Imperial Weight Centre bariatric surgery unit in London has been designated as an international centre of excellence for bariatric surgery and he now sits on the prestigious International Bariatric Surgery Review Committee (IBSRC).

Mr Ahmed was elected to council of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) in 2017 and took over as Treasurer in 2021. He was also elected to the council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2020.

Sally Abbott

BOMSS IHP representative, Council member
Academic and Clinical Dietitian

Biography

Sally Abbott works both as an academic and as a clinical dietitian, in Tier 3 and Tier 4 obesity services. Her research interests include improving patient access to obesity treatments and dietary management pre- and post-bariatric surgery. She was the European winner of the IFSO Integrated Health Scholarship in 2018 for her commitment to bariatric surgery dietetics. In 2021, Sally was certified as an EASO National Clinical Fellow in recognition of her clinical experience in obesity management.

Sally currently sits on the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) council as an IHP representative and is also the Bariatric Officer for the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Obesity Specialist Group committee.

Sherif Awad

BOMSS Educational Lead, Council member

Biography

Sherif Awad is Consultant Obesity, Upper GI & Laparoscopic Surgeon at East-Midlands Bariatric & Metabolic Institute (EMBMI), Royal Derby Hospital, Derby. He is Council Member and Educational Lead for BOMSS, has developed and delivers monthly BOMSS journal clubs and educational webinars. He is involved in organising the Annual BOMSS training day and Society Meeting. Sherif developed the post-CCT Royal College of Surgeons of England Bariatric Fellowship at EMBMI. His expertise is recognised Internationally and is regularly invited to deliver International and National lectures on, amongst other topics, improving safety, outcomes and surgical pathways for patients undergoing Obesity Surgery. He has co-authored international guidelines on Enhanced Recovery After Bariatric Surgery.

Professor Rachel Battherham

BOMSS Council member
Clinical Director and Centre for Obesity Research Lead/ Bariatric Centre for Weight Management & Metabolic Surgery Lead and Director
University College London/University College London Hospital

Biography

Professor Rachel Batterham is Professor of Obesity, Diabetes and Endocrinology at University College London (UCL). She leads the University College London Hospital (UCLH) Bariatric Centre for Weight Management & Metabolic Surgery and the UCL Centre for Obesity Research within the Department of Medicine. She is the Clinical Director for the Division of Medicine at UCL and the Director for the UCLH/UCL NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Obesity Research Theme. She is the Royal College of Physicians’ Special Advisor on Obesity.

She has received several national and international awards for her obesity including the Royal Society of Medicine’s Steven’s Lecture (2018), the Andre Mayer award from the World Obesity Federation (2016), and the Diabetes UK Rank Fund Nutrition Prize (2015).

Professor Batterham has made significant clinical contributions to defining the management of obese patients through her membership of the NICE Obesity Guideline Development Group. She is Scientific Chair for the International Federation for Surgery for Obesity and Metabolic Diseases (IFSO) European Chapter (since 2015), a Trustee for the Association for the Study of Obesity (since 2016) and Council Member for British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (since 2016). She is passionate about reducing the stigma that people with obesity experience and ensuring that the patient voice is heard and has established a charity for people affected by obesity, Obesity Empowerment Network UK.

Cynthia Borg

BOMSS Council member
Lead Consultant Surgeon
University Hospital Lewisham

Biography

Ms Cynthia-Michelle Borg qualified as a Doctor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Malta in 1997. After foundation and basic surgical training at St Luke’s Hospital, she moved to the UK for specialist training.

She completed a research degree (MD University of London), focusing on the changes in gut hormones after bariatric surgery. Ms Borg completed her specialist surgical training in upper GI, general and bariatric surgery in London and North-East Thames region.

Cynthia completed a laparoscopic and bariatric surgical fellowship at University College Hospital, London. In 2012, she was appointed as a Lead Consultant Surgeon at University Hospital Lewisham. Her specialist clinical and research interests are bariatric and metabolic surgery. She also has a keen interest in laparoscopic abdominal surgery, in particular the management of gallstone disease and gastro-oesophageal reflux.

Ms Borg has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented in national and international meetings. She is a reviewer for several international journals. She is a Regional Surgical Advisor of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Cynthia is also an elected council member of British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) and of Association of Upper GI surgery of Great Britain and Ireland (AUGIS).

Yitka Graham

BOMSS Council member

Biography

Dr Yitka Graham is the BOMSS National Research Lead. Yitka is Head of the Helen McArdle Nursing and Care Research Institute and Associate Professor of Health Services Research at the University of Sunderland. As part of her academic role, she holds a research role in the Bariatric Surgical Unit at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. Dr Graham's research interests are patient experiences of bariatric surgery, the psychosocial impact of bariatric surgery, challenging the stigma of obesity and the roles of the multidisciplinary team and workforce issues in bariatric surgical care.

Kamal Mahawar

BOMSS Patient Safety Committee Chair, Council member, NBSR Council member
Consultant General/ Bariatric Surgeon & NatSSIP Lead
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHSFT

Biography

Kamal Mahawar is a Consultant General/ Bariatric Surgeon & NatSSIP Lead at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, and Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland. Mr. Mahawar is a member of the BOMSS council and chairs its patient safety committee. He also sits on the scientific committee of IFSO and the National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) committee. He was one of the editors of the second and the third NBSR reports.

Kamal has authored over 175 peer-reviewed publications, multiple book chapters in prestigious titles, and two books widely appreciated in media ("The Ethical Doctor" published by Harper Collins and "Fight with Fat") He is the Co-Editor of “Journal of Bariatric Surgery” published by Wolters Kluwer and Associate Editor of “Obesity Surgery”, “Annals of Royal College of Surgeons England”, and “Clinical Obesity”. In addition, Kamal is on the editorial board of SOARD and other journals. The journal “Obesity Surgery” published his biography in 2018.

Kamal sits on the council of the ASGBI (and is its Associate Director for conferences). He is the Northern England representative on the council of the British Benign Upper Gastrointestinal Surgical Society (BBUGSS) and is the chief co-ordinator of The Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons (TUGS).

Chetan Parmar

BOMSS ASM Chair, Council member, Patient Safety Committee

Biography

Helen Parretti

BOMSS IHP representative, Council member
Consultant Clinical Senior Lecturer in Primary Care
University of East Anglia

Biography

Dr Helen Parretti is Consultant Clinical Senior Lecturer in Primary Care at the University of East Anglia with a research interest in obesity and a practising GP. Helen has several national roles related to obesity and has been involved in the development of national clinical guidance in post-bariatric surgery care. She is the RCGP representative to two RCP committees (Advisory Group on Nutrition, Weight and Health, and Joint Steering Committee for Endocrinology and Diabetes Mellitus) and the Society for Endocrinology working group “Defining the Future of Endocrinology”.

Helen sits on the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society council as an IHP representative and is a co-opted member of the professional steering group for Obesity Empowerment Network.

Dimitri Pournaras

BOMSS Council member
Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgeon
North Bristol NHS Trust

Biography

Dimitri Pournaras graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and undertook all his postgraduate training in the UK. He was awarded a Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellowship to conduct research on obesity, diabetes and metabolic surgery.

He completed his PhD in the Department of Investigative Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College London investigating the mechanism of action of bariatric surgery and the role of the gut on appetite and glucose homeostasis. He then trained in oesophagogastric surgery in Cambridge and Norwich. Following a Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Fellowship approved by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, he was appointed as a Consultant Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgeon in North Bristol NHS Trust where he currently works as part of the multidisciplinary team treating obesity as a disease.

Dimitri is the inaugural British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society/Royal College of Surgeons of England bariatric Surgical Specialty Lead and is committed to high quality, collaborative, patient centred research with the objective to improve obesity care.

Dr Emma Shuttlewood

BOMSS IHP representative, Council member
Clinical Psychologist

Biography

Dr Emma Shuttlewood, Clinical Psychologist, gained her doctorate at the University of Oxford and has worked in both clinical and academic roles across various NHS organisations specialising in weight management, bariatric surgery and diabetes. She has significant experience setting up and developing the psychological aspect of weight management services, providing group and individual support for patients. Emma uses a range of psychological approaches within her clinical work with a preference for Solution Focused Practice and Compassion Focused Therapy. Emma currently works as the psychology lead in a specialist NHS weight management and bariatric surgery service for the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.

Emma currently sits on the BOMSS council as an IHP representative and is also a member of the British Psychological Society’s Obesity Special Interest Group committee.

Peter Small

BOMSS Trustee, Council member, NBSR Chairman
Senior Consultant Surgeon
Sunderland Royal Hospital

Biography

Mr Peter Small is a senior consultant surgeon at Sunderland Royal Hospital with a specialist interest in bariatric and upper GI laparoscopic surgery. He was appointed in 1998 and established a North of England NHS Bariatric Surgery service which is one of the largest NHS units in the UK with 7 consultant Surgeons.

He has been an executive member of BOMSS Council since 2013 and is a founding Trustee of the new BOMSS Charity. The National Bariatric Surgery Registry has been an integral part of BOMSS since its inception in 2009. Peter Small has been a member of the Registry Committee since 2010, taking over as Chairman in 2017.

He is a keen promoter of data collection and analysis to identify good practice, helping to produce the 2^nd and 3^rd NBSR Reports in 2014 and 2020 respectively.

Roxanna Zakeri

BOMSS Council National Trainee Representative
Specialty Registrar in General Surgery
North Central & East London

Biography

Roxanna Zakeri is a Specialty Registrar in General Surgery in North Central & East London, specialising in Bariatric Surgery. She studied Medicine at the University of Cambridge and University College London, graduating in 2011. After foundation training in London, she undertook core surgical training in Yorkshire where she enjoyed her first exposure to bariatric surgery. Roxanna returned to London to embark on specialty training in 2015 and took time out of clinical practice to undertake an NIHR-funded PhD at the Centre for Obesity Research, University College London, into the role of gut hormones and genetics in determining bariatric surgery outcomes. She was awarded a Royal College of Surgeons of England research fellowship to continue her work.

Roxanna is passionate about collaborative research and strongly believes in the benefits of trainee-led research and education to improve training experiences and the care we ultimately provide. In 2019, she was appointed as Trainee Research Lead for BOMSS and developed a national network to deliver trainee-led NBSR and collaborative studies which are now underway.

Roxanna was elected as Trainee Representative for BOMSS in 2020, successfully boosting trainee engagement and reducing membership fees. Her main focus has been to increase bariatric training opportunities, both academic and clinical, and widen awareness of the specialty. She organises and co-hosts the monthly BOMSS journal club, ensuring trainees are supported to present each month, and is working with BOMSS Council to increase bariatric content in the intercollegiate curriculum and Fellowship opportunities. Moving forwards she is working with industry to provide skills courses to fill the training gaps left by COVID-19 measures, and sits on the executive committee of Roux Group to ensure bariatric content across the spectrum of Upper GI surgery educational events.

Roxanna is also a staunch advocate of gender equity and ethnic diversity in surgery, and continues to campaign for equal representation and opportunities in all training and society endeavours.

Roxanna is always happy to be contacted by BOMSS trainees to discuss ideas or concerns about training and what they would like the society to offer. Please contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter @RoxannaZakeri.