Symposium for Metabolic Health
Held at The Boca Raton Marriott Hotel

Dr. Cywes is Dual Board Certified in General Surgery and in Pediatric Surgery. He specializes in Pediatric and Adult obesity, diabetes and metabolic management including bariatric surgery.  His focus is on helping people understand and treat the true cause of obesity and diabetes.  He has been doing bariatric surgery for 19 years and has performed around 7000 surgeries.  Despite this, Dr Cywes firmly believes that obesity and diabetes are not treated by surgery, however, surgery may be a invaluable tool along the journey of becoming carbohydrate-free.

His medical training began in Cape Town, South Africa where he received his medical degree from The University of Cape Town training with Prof Tim Noakes amongst others. In 1989, Dr. Cywes moved to North America and completed a year-long residency in pediatric surgery at Ohio State University’s Columbus Children’s Hospital before moving to Canada where he completed his general surgery residency and specialized in minimally invasive surgery at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Cywes also earned a PhD in liver transplant immunology and the effect of glucose metabolism on vascular endothelium injury, working with Dr David Jenkins, the father of the Glycemic Index.

After completing his paediatric surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Dr. Cywes was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Paediatric and Fetal Surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where he did hepatic stem cell research.  During this time, Dr. Cywes became increasingly interested in adolescent obesity and the impact of carbohydrates on the liver and metabolic syndrome in young patients. Dr. Cywes’ research led to a comprehensive understanding of the toxicity of chronic excessive carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of obesity and so-called obesity-related co-morbidities. In the late 1990s Dr Cywes understood that the prevailing treatment of obesity using a Calories in, Calories out (CICO) model was erroneous, and he developed the Carbohydrate Insulin Model of Obesity and Diabetes (CIMOD). Using this model in combination with his understanding of the psychology of addiction, he developed a clinical program to treat obese adolescents using this approach. Dr. Cywes relocated to Jacksonville, Florida where he joined the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the Nemours Children’s Clinic and Wolfson Children’s Hospital. This led to a national meeting in Jacksonville where guidelines for adolescent obesity surgery were established.

In 2004, Dr. Cywes established Jacksonville Surgical Associates to continue his work in both adolescent and adult obesity treatment and surgery, and in 2013 opened a practice in West Palm Beach, Florida.  He now works with a highly experienced team of professionals from a variety of medical sub-specialties to better care for obese patients.  He has developed the practice into a nationally recognized Center of Excellence for obesity surgery. The practice uses a cognitive behavioral therapy approach that addresses carbohydrate addiction, along with bariatric surgery, to help patients manage the cause of their obesity long term. Based on his extensive clinical research and observations, Dr. Cywes lectures internationally regarding the physiological impact of carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of the current Chronic Non-Communicable Disease (CNCDs) epidemic.  He also lectures on the behavioral aspects of carbohydrate addiction as the cause of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities and the use of substance abuse methodology, rather than a diet and exercise approach, to the effective long term treatment of obesity.

Dr. Cywes is a member of ASMBS (American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) and is a member of the ASMBS Childhood Obesity Committee. He is also a member of APSA (American Pediatric Surgery Association). He has earned a Centers of Excellence designation by the Surgical Review Corporation. Dr. Cywes trains other surgeons to perform bariatric surgery as well as developing an aftercare model to help patients maintain weight loss.

Dr. Cywes and his team are active in obesity research, including an ongoing Adolescent Bariatric Surgery trial. He has become one of the foremost authorities in the treatment and management of obesity in adolescents. He recently co-authored a book, Diabetes Unpacked outlining an effective approach to understanding and treating diabetes into remission. Dr. Cywes’ vast experience in pediatric and general surgery serves him well in using bariatric surgery to treat obesity in both adults and children.

Dr Cywes maintains an active clinical practice in Palm Beach Gardens and in Jacksonville as well as being active on conveying the CIMOD message on social media and through his websites – Obesityunderstood.com and diabetesunderstood.com.

Dr. Ben has been at the forefront of health and wellness for nearly 50 years. As a clinician in the fields of fitness and health he has initiated and promoted behavioral interventions that have proven to be effective in the treatment and management of the degenerative diseases that plague our public health.

Dr. Ben’s philosophy states that on the continuum of illness to wellness, our collective health plans should attempt to drive the needle towards wellness and away from illness through scientifically sound and safe applications of behavioural endeavors.

Dr. Ben has applied his extensive, recognized background and experience in diet and exercise as the basis of his intervention protocol. Initially (1974), he introduced slow resistance training to the exercise world in a successful attempt to provide safe, high intensity exercise to all populations.

He was the first practitioner to include resistance training to phase II cardiac rehabilitation in 1982. It is now accepted, standard protocol. He pioneered high intensity exercise for high endurance athletes in the mid 1980’s. Lastly, he introduced high intensity exercise for weight loss and management programs including the Opti Fast protocol used by the first popular bariatric physicians (Opti Fit).

Furthermore, Dr. Ben has exposed the paucity of legitimate science supporting conventional medical and governmental practices in treating and managing the aforementioned health dilemmas. He contends that a singularly pharmaceutical oriented solution as currently applied has failed individually and on an international basis.

Dr. Ben provides a simple history of the escalation of degenerative diseases (diabetes, obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, cancer etc.) that correlates, at an inordinate level, with behavioral changes in physical activity and dietary preferences.

Lastly, Dr. Ben offers a simple, sound and scientifically based plan that incorporates a universally applicable system that directly addresses the alarming, current state of public health. Topics included are: Diet, exercise, disease treatment and management options and cost analyses of these.

Dr. Ben Bocchicchio has published more than 200 articles and study reports in the fields of Fitness, Health and Exercise. His work includes his acclaimed book “15 Minutes to Fitness” and the sale of more than 300,000 SMaRT DVD’s in 31 countries. He is continuing work as an investigator and consultant to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, ASU and a number of academic and corporate health institutions.

Dr. Lily Johnston, MD, MPH, is the associate medical director for Nexus Healthspan, and is board-certified in both vascular and general surgery. Dr. Johnston received her MD from the University of California, San Diego; she completed her residency in general surgery at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and then completed a fellowship in vascular surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Dr. Johnston also has a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, MD. She has authored over 25 peer-reviewed studies in cardiovascular disease, and has given numerous talks on topics ranging from vascular and metabolic health to cognitive biases in physicians.

After several years of practicing vascular surgery full-time, she witnessed too many people losing their lives and limbs to preventable and reversible diseases. She has now dedicated her career to addressing the root cause of cardiovascular disease, and is passionate about bringing the principles of whole person medicine and metabolic health to her patients. Dr. Johnston is an expert in complex cardiometabolic therapy including cardiovascular testing and imaging, lipid management, therapeutic nutrition protocols, and hormone replacement therapy.

Dr. Johnston is the founder of the Vascular Health Institute, and is a member of the Society for Vascular Surgery. She is an accredited metabolic health practitioner with both the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners and the Nutrition Network, and she is currently pursuing additional training in functional medicine.

Dr. Salcedo is a board certified OBGYN in Southern California and practices at Loma Linda University Health. She treats and addresses all benign gynaecologic issues and has a special emphasis in using lifestyle to address women’s health concerns. Particularly, she uses low carbohydrate high fat nutrition as one of her tools to treat abnormal uterine bleeding, endometriosis, and infertility.

Barbara Levy, MD is a board-certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and certified Menopause provider. She has over 40 years of experience in direct care, research, and physician training in women’s health care. Dr Levy is currently Chief Medical Officer of Visana Health, Inc., a virtual first women’s health company, and Chief Medical Officer of Uroshape.  In addition, she is Vice-Chair of the American Medical Society’s CPT Editorial Panel, past Chair of the AMA RBRVS Update Committee, and was the vice president of health policy at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for over 7 years. She has published over 95 studies and peer reviewed articles. Much of her personal and professional experience has focused on improving the health, well-being, and livelihood of women across the United States and around the world.

Dr. Madison Kackley is a research scientist and director of SHE IS Lab (Scientific Health Empowerment & Integrative Solutions) at Ohio State University. This is an all-female led research lab dedicated to advancing women’s health and wellness through cutting-edge research, nutrition, and exercise. With a focus on complex health issues affecting women, Dr. Kackley’s work spans areas like athletes, PCOS, postpartum health, and reproductive wellness.

Dr. Dominic D’Agostino is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at the University of South Florida (USF) Morsani College of Medicine and also a Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC). The primary focus of his laboratory is directed towards understanding the physiological effects of hyperbaric oxygen and developing and testing metabolic-based therapies, including ketogenic diets, ketone supplements and drugs that target specific metabolic pathways.

His research explores the use of these therapies for a broad range of disorders linked pathophysiologically to metabolic dysregulation, including seizures, neurodegenerative diseases, genetic diseases and cancer. D’Agostino’s laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro techniques to understand the physiological, cellular and molecular mechanism of metabolic therapies. His research is supported by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Department of Defense (DoD), private organizations and foundations.

Dr. Laura Buchanan is a double board-certified physician in family and obesity medicine with a passion for using lifestyle modification as the first-line standard of care. She is also a certified metabolic health practitioner (MHP), and a Board and founding member of the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners.

She completed her family medicine residency at Wake Forest in 2022 and was a valedictorian of her class at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

The mission that drives her is to help people age successfully. That passion was initially derived from a love of sports but has since evolved and expanded to include a passion for healthy living generally, including the importance of nutrition, exercise, mental wellness, and an optimal use of the medical system. She sees her role as a doctor being two-fold: promoting prevention and practicing medicine. She is currently accepting patients across the United States via Telemedicine with Dr. Tro Kalayjian.