Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Surgery, Emory University, Medical Director of Child Wellness at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia

Akron Children's Hospital Bruce F. Rothmann, M.D. Chair in Pediatric Surgery. Dr. Wulkan is a pioneer in pediatric advanced minimally invasive surgery with a strong interest in neonatal and thoracic lesions. After initiating the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center at Children’s in 2003, he oversaw its growth into one of the most high volume pediatric minimally invasive programs in the country. Additionally, he performed Children’s first lap-band procedure to treat adolescent obesity in 2007, was one of the first surgeons in Georgia to perform single-site incision surgery on pediatric patients for routine surgeries in 2009, and performed the first laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy for adolescent obesity in the Southeast in 2010.

Chair of the Section of Obesity, Volunteer Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of General and Community Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Private Practice, Pediatric Associates, Kentucky

Todd Ponsky is currently Professor of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati and a pediatric surgeon at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Akron Children’s Hospital. He is the Director of Clinical Growth and Transformation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He attended medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio from 1995-1999,Residency in General Surgery at The George Washington University in Washington, DC from 1999-2005, Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC from 2005-2007,and an Advanced Minimally Invasive Pediatric Surgery Fellowship at The Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver, CO from 2007-2008. Dr. Ponsky was the first to perform and report single port surgery in children and modernized the methods of the laparoscopic pediatric hernia repair. He has published over 125 manuscripts, edited 3 textbooks, and authored over 30 book chapters. He has directed over 50 national/international courses and has given over 200 visiting lectureships. He is the Associate Editor for The Journal of Pediatric Surgery, and serves on three editorial boards. He is the immediate past president of the International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG) and holds, or has held, leadership positions in the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA), the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and the International Society for Pediatric Innovation (iSPI). He has won numerous faculty teaching awards. He is involved in both outcomes and animal research with a focus on inguinal hernia physiology, surgical telementoring, endoscopic repair techniques for pure esophageal atresia, and innovations in education. He founded GlobalcastMD and Stay Current in Surgery, both of which serve to democratize and internationalize medical knowledge and modernize the way we teach and learn surgery.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Dual trained in Pediatric and Internal Medicine, Golisano Children's Hospital at the University Rochester Medical Center. Rochester, NY

Parenting coach and founder of Parent Coach Atlanta, credentialed educator, and speaker on topics related to raising healthy, happy children. Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Tom Inge is a professor and chair of pediatric surgery and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. In addition to his role as division head for pediatric surgery, in 2017 he established the section of adolescent bariatric surgery integrating a surgical treatment option into existing obesity treatment program for adolescents with severe and other special forms of obesity at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado. He has authored or co-authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and provided over 120 invited lectures for national and international professional groups. Dr. Inge has served as a consultant to the NIH and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He has also served in leadership positions on numerous committees and task forces for surgical and pediatric professional organizations including ASMBS, TOS, AAP, and APSA.

Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Director, Nutrition Training Grant, University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Marc Michalsky is Professor of Clinical Surgery and Pediatrics at The Ohio State University, College of Medicine where he serves as the Surgical Director for The Center for Healthy Weight & Nutrition and Director, Center for Robotic Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Under Dr. Michalsky’s leadership the center’s Adolescent Bariatric Surgery Program has become both nationally and internationally recognized for its clinical excellence related to surgical outcomes a well as its long standing participation in the Teen-Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) study; an ongoing multicenter NIH-funded observational study designed to investigate the long-term safety and efficacy of severely obese adolescents undergoing surgical weight loss. In August 2015, the bariatric surgery program at Nationwide Children’s earned distinction as the first freestanding pediatric center in the U.S. to be awarded clinical national accreditation as part of the American College of Surgeons’ - Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP). Dr. Michalsky has published numerous peer-reviewed articles on clinical outcomes related to bariatric surgical intervention in the adolescent population and has served in leadership positions on various national organization committees including the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, American Pediatric Surgical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Surgeons.   

Clinical Assistant Professor, Morehouse School of Medicine. Georgia Pediatric Pulmonology Associates, Medical Director, Sleep Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Atlanta, GA.

Bernard Marcus Professor of Pediatrics, Emory University, Chief of Endocrinology, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Atlanta, GA

Professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Ohio State University. Columbus, OH.

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Medical Director, Texas Center for the Prevention of Childhood Obesity; Medical Director, Austin ISD Student Health Services, Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. Austin, Texas.

Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Wake Forest School of Medicine, Endorcinologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Winston-Salem, NC.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Co-director, Cincinnati Children’s Steatohepatitis Center, Medical Director of the Surgical Weight Loss Program for Teens. Cincinnati, OH.