Saturday, May 10, 2025
9:00 am – 9:15 am
CABPS Distinguished Service Award
This year’s recipient needs no introduction! Join us in congratulating Dr. Michel Gagner, the recipient of the CABPS Distinguished Service Award for 2025!
Recipient:
Dr. Michel Gagner, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FASMBS, FSSO
Chief, Department of Surgery, Westmount Square Surgical Center
Chef, Departement de Chirurgie, Centre de Chirurgie Carre Westmount
Senior Consultant, Hôpital du Sacre Coeur, Montreal
Chief of Surgery, Westmount Square Surgical Center
Westmount, QC
Dr. Gagner did his surgical training at McGill from 1982-1988. He worked at the Cleveland Clinic where he co-founded the MIS Center (1995-1998). He was appointed Director of the MIS Center of Mount Sinai (NY), from 1998 to 2003. He then joined Weill-Cornell as Chief of Laparoscopic/Bariatric (2003-2007). He was Chair of Surgery at Mount Sinai (Miami) and is currently senior consultant Montreal.
Dr. Gagner is known for his contributions in MIS, in particular, the first description of laparoscopic adrenalectomy (1992), laparoscopic pancreatectomy (distal/proximal) (1992-93), endoscopic neck surgery with parathyroidectomy in 1995, trans-gastric cholecystectomy in 1997 (NOTES), laparoscopic DS in 1999 and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 2000.
He has over 400 published articles, 50 book chapters, and 12 books on MIS surgery. He has held positions in more than 35 societies and has served on the editorial boards of 12 surgical journals (Associate Editor of SOARD and Obesity Surgery). Dr. Gagner was the President IFSO 2014 (International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders) annual meeting and 5th International Conference on Sleeve Gastrectomy held in Montreal, August 26-30th, 2014. He is a former member of the Executive Board of IFSO and Program Chair of ASMBS 2016. Dr. Gagner is a former member of the CABPS Board of Directors and has served as its Conference Chair in 2017 and 2018.
Roast/Toast:
Dr. Laurent Biertho, MD
Université Laval,
Département de Chirurgie
Institut de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec
Quebec City, QC
Dr. Laurent Biertho is Clinical Professor of Surgery at Laval University. After being trained in Biomedical Sciences (1993) and Medicine (1998) at the University of Liege, Belgium, he completed his residency in General Surgery (2004). He underwent post-doctoral training in Minimally Invasive surgery at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA, and McMaster University, Canada (2004-2006). At the end of his training, he was appointed Assistant Professor at McMaster University. He was then offered a position as an Associate Professor of Surgery at Laval University, to introduce minimally invasive bariatric and metabolic surgery at the Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et Pneumologie de Québec. He is the director of the fellowship program in Bariatric and Metabolic surgery at Laval University and co-director of the Research Chair in Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery. He is also the immediate Past President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons.
Presentation:
Dr. Stephen Glazer, MD, FRCPC, FCCP, FAASM, President
Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine
President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons
Medical Director Bariatric Surgical Program, Humber River Regional Hospital
Assistant Professor-Department of Medicine, Queen's University
Dr. Stephen Glazer holds certification in Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine from the University of Toronto in Ontario. He is also certified as a specialist in Sleep Medicine through the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He has a strong interest in perioperative risk assessment.
Dr. Glazer is both a provincial and a national leader in Bariatric Medicine. In 2010, Dr. Glazer became the Medical Director for both the Bariatric Surgical and Medical Program at Humber River Hospital, a dedicated center of excellence for the management of Obesity in Ontario. He is an active board member of the Ontario Bariatric Network, sitting on numerous subcommittees, including being the Vice-Chair of the OBN Medical Program Task Force. He is involved in establishing the standards of care for patients in Ontario participating in both surgical and medical approaches for weight loss. In 2012, he was among one of the first Canadian physicians who successfully completed the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) Certification examination and is a diplomat of the ABOM.
In 2019, Dr. Glazer became the President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons (CABPS), an national organization representing Canadian specialists interested in the treatment of obesity for the purposes of maintenance and improvement for the standards of Bariatric care in Canada, supporting both primary and continuing educational programs, knowledge, research and developing policies and new ideas in the areas of clinical care, education, and research in Bariatric Medicine and Surgery.
Dr. Glazer participates in multiple clinical research projects and publications. He is the author of the Pre-Operative Management for Bariatric Surgery chapter for the 2020 Canadian Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines. His greatest enjoyment is teaching and interreacting with other health care providers via lecturing at conferences or other educational venues. His enthusiasm and passion for the field of Obesity Medicine and the care of patients living with obesity is blatantly obvious and he hopes infectious to others.
Acceptance:
Dr. Michel Gagner, MD, FRCSC, FACS, FASMBS, FSSO