ITEM WRITTING

Dr. Peminda K. Cabandugama, a native of Colombo, Sri Lanka, came to the United States in 2003 to go to college at Winona State University in Winona, MN where he graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors. He completed medical school at St. Georges University in Grenada, West Indies. and then went on to complete an Internal Medicine Residency, including a Chief Residency year, at Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center (an Affiliate of NYU Medical Center) in Brooklyn NY.  After that, he completed a fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of Missouri-Columbia in Columbia, MO. Today he holds the position of Assistant Professor and Associate Fellowship Program Director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City, MO.

Dr. Hussein Elbadawi is an endocrinologist in the department of internal medicine in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University. Dr. Elbadawi completed an internal medicine residency at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington Massachusetts followed by a combined clinical and translational fellowship at Wayne State University in Endocrinology, Diabetes & metabolism. He then joined the faculty as the assistant program director of the endocrinology fellowship program. He is board certified in internal medicine and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine as well as a certified clinical densitometrist.

He is a clinical assistant professor of medicine and very involved in medical education. He is very passionate about educating the next generation of health care providers about obesity and related metabolic diseases. He has been instrumental in modifying the medical school curriculum to include obesity as a topic introduced early in physiology and pathophysiology courses. He started the Obesity & lipids clinic in the division of endocrinology to train interested residents and fellows to serve a unique underserved obese patient population.

He is affiliated with the Detroit Medical Center, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Karmanos Cancer Institute where he was recognized as an obesity medicine specialist in addition to his role as an endocrinologist.

Dr. Elbadawi’s research activity revolves around brown adipose tissue and its response to hormones and catecholamines. He is a member of the Obesity Society, The Endocrine Society, The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and The American Thyroid Association. He actively participates in local and institutional programs aiming at raising awareness of local community members to envision obesity as a disease.

In her current general endocrinology practice, she cares for patients with diabetes, obesity, metabolic bone and calcium disorders, hypogonadism, thyroid, pituitary and adrenal disorders. Prior to her current professional role, she enjoyed working with and teaching endocrinology fellows while on faculty at the University of Pittsburgh and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System.

Dr. Hawkins completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and received her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.  She completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Jamie Kane is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine and serves as the section chief of Obesity Medicine as well as the director for Northwell Health’s Center for Weight Management. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.  He received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University and an M.D. at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine prior to completing his residency training in Internal Medicine at Yale University.
Dr. Kane has previously held faculty positions at Yale University and New York University.  He has ten years of clinical expertise in both university and private practice settings.  He has long been passionate about chronic disease prevention and strongly believes individuals and communities, with the help of caring trained professionals, can make powerful changes critical to overall health and well-being.

Dr Jessica Kobleur is the Medical Director of a pediatric multidisciplinary weight management program, the Gulfstream Children’s Wellness Clinic at Memorial Health University Hospital in Savannah, Georgia. She is also a practicing general pediatrician at the hospital’s outpatient center University Pediatrics. Dr. Kobleur teaches students and residents about the implications and management of childhood obesity. She and her Wellness Team provide teaching and act as a resource for local community pediatricians, schools and community programs. Dr. Kobleur graduated medical school and completed residency at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia. She is board certified in pediatric medicine and has been a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine since 2016.

Coming Soon

Dr. Beth Marshall-Bergman received her medical degree from Midwestern University, Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at The University of Illinois at Chicago. She is board certified in internal medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. Dr. Marshall practices internal medicine and obesity medicine at Rush Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park, IL. Her clinical interests include the impact of behavioral modification and mindfulness as they relate to obesity, weight loss, and chronic disease management.

Dr. Mohamad Mokadem was born in Lebanon and completed undergraduate studies and medical training at the American university of Beirut (AUB) in 2003. He did his initial residency training in Internal Medicine at the AUB-Medical center where he also served as the Medical Chief Resident during the academic year 2006-2007. Thereafter, he moved to the United States for advanced training where he did another residency in Internal Medicine at Indiana University in Indianapolis between 2007 and 2010.

Dr. Mokadem then moved to Dallas, Texas where he completed fellowship training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UT Southwestern (UTSW) University. During that same period (extending between 2010 and 2014) he also finished a post-doctoral fellowship training in obesity and metabolism within the Center for Hypothalamic Research at UTSW under the supervision and guidance of Joel Elmquist DVM, PhD and Vincent Aguirre M.D, Ph.D. He now holds the position of assistant professor in the department of internal medicine/division of gastroenterology at the University of Iowa where he is involved in clinical management of gastrointestinal diseases and obesity.

Dr. Nosheen Qureshi is a Family Physician in Charlotte, North Carolina at Atrium Health. Dr. Qureshi received her medical degree from Rawalpindi Medical University in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.  She completed her residency in 2003 at North Shore-LIJ (now Northwell Health) in Long Island, New York.  After working at a private practice in Long Island, she re-located to Charlotte in 2005.

Dr. Qureshi works primarily with indigent communities in the greater Charlotte region.  She prefers working with low-income communities for maximum impact due to their limited resources and a high-risk for conditions associated with obesity.  She believes that constructive education at an early age on the topic of obesity and its profound risk to health will have a positive long-term impact in this often-overlooked populace.

In her free time, Dr. Qureshi enjoys reading, coaching the local Science Olympiad team, and spending time outdoors with her family.

Dr. Reid is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University in the Division of Endocrinology. She completed her medical training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, followed by an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center-Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After her residency, she spent a year as a Research Fellow and then completed her fellowship training in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, both at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.

Dr. Reid is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology. During her fellowship, her research focused on acromegaly. She received an Endocrine Fellows Foundation Award as well as an NIH supplemental grant to investigate the endothelial function of patients with acromegaly. Her current research focuses on obesity and changes in hormones and medical co-morbidities in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. She currently treats patients at the Columbia University Weight Control Center.

Reshmi Srinath, MD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Bone Disease, and is the director of the Mount Sinai Weight and Metabolism Management Program.

 Her interest in metabolism, nutrition, and prevention of metabolic disease started in college as a Division 1 tennis player and led her to pursue a career in medicine and specialize in Endocrinology. She graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine with a merit scholarship. She then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, and fellowship training in Endocrinology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, before moving to New York to join Mount Sinai. 

As a faculty member, her expertise is in the prevention and treatment of obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic complications. She is also involved in supervising students, residents and fellows both inpatient and in clinics, as well as preparing current fellows for the Endocrinology board exam.

Dr. Adrienne Youdim is well-recognized for her expertise in the areas of nutrition, obesity medicine and preventative medicine. Formerly the Medical Director of the Cedars Sinai Center for Weight Loss, she has partnered with hundreds of patients helping them achieve their goal of better health through good nutrition. Dr. Youdim specializes in medical weight loss, medical nutritional therapy and nutritional and metabolic support of bariatric surgery patients.

Dr. Youdim is board certified and diplomat of the American Board of Internal Medicine, the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and the American Board of Obesity Medicine as well as Fellow of the American College of Physicians. She is currently Associate Professor of Medicine at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Dr. Youdim received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and her medical degree from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a well as a fellowship specializing in nutrition and bariatric medicine.

Dr. Youdim has lectured extensively at the local and national level and has served on numerous professional committees and societies including serving as president of the Bariatric Section of the Obesity Society. Her published works include the Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Nutritional and Perioperative Care of the Bariatric Surgery Patient among other publications in peer reviewed journals such as Endocrine Practice, Obesity, Journal of Surgery and Obesity Related Diseases, Journal of Immunology and Bariatric Times. She has also edited several chapters in Nutrition and Obesity.