The Metabolic Health Institute was founded by a group of internationally renowned clinicians/scientists who have worked together over more than two decades. Engaging a large network of world’s leading experts they have organised some of the most influential scientific conferences in the field of metabolic surgery, obesity and diabetes including the Diabetes Surgery Summit (DSS), the World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes, the International Conference on Stigma of Obesity, among others.
Our history
Metabolic Health Institute Structure
Diabetes Surgery Summit (DSS)
The Diabetes Surgery Summit is a series of international consensus conferences for the development of evidence-based guidelines on surgical treatment of type 2 diabetes (metabolic surgery).
The series has been co-directed since its inception by Professors Francesco Rubino (Italy), Philip Schauer (USA), David Cummings (USA), and Lee Kaplan (USA) and it has been organised in partnership with leading diabetes and surgical organisations since 2007. The DSS has played an instrumental role in the recognition of surgery as a standard treatment option for diabetes, contributing to the development of the emerging field of metabolic surgery. Guidelines developed through the DSS have been endorsed by professional organisations around the world and have influenced changes in healthcare policies and coverage of surgery globally.
The World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes
The World Congress on Interventional Therapies for Type 2 Diabetes was conceived by Prof. Francesco Rubino as an international multi-disciplinary forum to discuss available evidence on the use and study of bariatric/metabolic surger, device-based interventions and other novel therapeutics for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The congress serves to craft an agenda of research priorities and health policy initiatives.
The first edition of the world congress was held in New York City in September 2008 and was attended by delegates from over 65 countries. Three other editions were held in New York in 2011, London 2015 and again in New York in 2019.
International Consensus Conference on Stigma of Obesity
The Joint International Consensus Conference on the Stigma of Obesity was held in New York City in 2019 and directed by Prof F. Rubino.
The conference was organised in partnership with: American Diabetes Association (ADA), World Obesity Federation (WOF), Obesity Society (TOS), European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO), American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), Diabetes UK, American Association for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity (IFSO) and Obesity Canada.
The event involved a globally representative group of scientists and medical leaders who reviewed available evidence on the causes and consequences of weight-based stigma. The group proposed recommendations to eradicate the stigma of obesity published in Nature Medicine in 2020), and a pledge signed by a record number of medical organisations, www.pledge2endobesitystigma.org.
The Lancet DE Commission on Clinical Obesity
All Founding members of the Metabolic Health Institute have served in leading roles in this Commission, which defined “clinical obesity”, a chronic illness directly caused by excess adiposity, and the criteria for its diagnosis in adults and children/adolescents.
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