ASMBS Integrated Health Keynote Speaker

Friday, June 11th, 11:30 am

Bariatric Surgery: An Adolescent’s Perspective

Faith Newsome, BA

Faith Newsome is a second-year doctoral student at the University of Florida and a patient advocate. At 16, she underwent gastric bypass surgery. Since then, she has founded OCEANS (Outreach, Community Engagement, Advocacy, and Non-Discriminatory Support), a 501c3 nonprofit that advocates for, and supports, adolescents with obesity.

ASMBS Integrated Health Presidential Address

Friday, June 11th, 12:15 pm

Lisa West-Smith, PhD LISW-S

ASMBS Integrated Health (IH) President Lisa West-Smith, PhD, LISW-S is the first behavioral health member to serve in this leadership role. Dr. West-Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience and Department of Surgery at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. She also serves as Director of Behavioral Health Services at the UC Health Weight Loss Center. In over two decades of practice in the behavioral treatment of obesity, Dr. West-Smith has conducted over eight thousand pre-surgical psychosocial assessments for individuals pursuing surgical treatment; during that time she has also provided behavioral health services for post-surgical and medical weight loss patients. Prior to her role as IH President, Dr. West-Smith has been active in the leadership of ASMBS, including service on the IH Executive Council and the IH Clinical Issues Committee. In addition to her numerous invited presentations and peer reviewed publications in bariatrics, Dr. West-Smith is co-author of the ASMBS Recommendations for the Pre-surgical Psychosocial Evaluation of Bariatric Surgery Patients, published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases.