Heather Tollerson Flannery, Founder & Chief Executive Officer

In 2005, amidst a productive career as an entrepreneur, management consultant and technology strategist, Heather decided that a complete change of focus was necessary. She felt like she was succeeding in spite of herself, and something had to change -- perhaps everything. At that time, she was usually exhausted, wracked with several sources of chronic pain, struggled with bouts of severe depression, and constantly battled a seemingly uncontrollable appetite. Heather was over 330 pounds; and with a body mass index of 48, she was considered morbidly obese. Always data-driven and finally unwilling to continue to suffer, yet unclear what path to take, she hit the books and started asking for help. After substantial self-education and deep introspection, Heather chose to undergo a restrictive weight loss surgery (a sleeve gastrectomy). She then began a complete overhaul of every aspect of her lifestyle, and simultaneously launched her first venture in healthcare: a multi-state, multi-disciplinary care model for obesity treatment that included bariatric surgery, medical weight management, behavioral health, dietetics, sleep medicine, and exercise physiology.

During the intervening years, while working on a variety of projects focused on excellence in health administration in the obesity space, Heather's perspective on the problem of obesity gradually broadened and deepened. She was informed by direct experience with thousands of obese patients struggling with many of the same challenges that had plagued her. While achieving and maintaining an almost 170 pound weight loss, Heather began to recognize patterns and priorities. With this new found clarity, Heather created the Twelve Pillars® model and the concepts behind Obesity PPM. 

Deepening awareness of interconnected health and lifestyle factors took Heather on a transformative journey visible in her “Before and After” pictures. She hopes that, by candidly sharing her story, she can provide inspiration to the millions of people affected by obesity who strive endlessly, but have not yet been able to release their own heavy burdens.

Now, with a Body Mass Index of 24, and a vitality she absolutely never takes for granted, Heather spends her considerable energy leading and developing Obesity PPM -- a venture born not only of her intellect, but of her direct experience. Heather is also a passionate, engaging public speaker on many topics related to obesity, and continues to engage with customers directly as a senior healthcare consultant. With broad experitise in enterprise program management, technology strategy and architecture, organizational change management, and marketing and communications, she brings a unique combination of skills to each engagement.  Heather lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

Morgan Downey brings tremendous experience, and many noteworthy accomplishments in the obesity policy space, to Obesity PPM.

From 1998 to 2006, Mr. Downey was the executive director of the American Obesity Association (AOA). AOA was an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting understanding of obesity and advocating public policies to combat the epidemic. During his tenure he organized the first conferences on obesity as a public policy issue, secured an Internal Revenue System Revenue Ruling that expenses for weight loss treatment were eligible for the medical deduction on individual taxes; convinced the Social Security Administration, the IRS and Medicare (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that obesity is a disease; pushed then Surgeon General David Satcher to focus on obesity leading to his groundbreaking report; and helped to greatly expanded Medicare coverage of bariatric surgery.

From 2006 to 2008 he was the executive vice president of the Obesity Society, the medical and scientific society for obesity. While at the Obesity Society, Mr. Downey initiated a program to develop a credential to recognize physicians specializing in the treatment of obesity and established a section of the Society dedicated to Health Services Research. He conducted a forum in 2007 “What Should the Next Administration Do About Obesity?” co-sponsored by the STOP Obesity Alliance and the National Journal. Nine presidential candidates (Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, McCain, Obama, and Governors Richardson, Romney and Mayor Giuliani) were represented as well as Peter Orszag, now President Obama’s director of the Congressional Budget Office, then director of the Congressional Budget Office. The discussions were moderated by Linda Douglass, then with National Journal and now director of communications for the White House health care reform efforts. Due to these efforts, obesity was included for the first time in both party’s national platforms in 2008.

In addition to his work with Obesity PPM, Morgan is currently consulting with several organizations on obesity issues including Allergan Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics. He is an advisor to the Geisinger Obesity Institute, is on the Board of Directors of the Surgical Review Corporation which certifies bariatric surgery centers of excellence and serves as the Policy Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance, part of George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services, is an advisory board member with the Certification Board for Obesity Educators, and is a member of the steering commiteee of the Coalition to Prevent DVT.

Read the remainder of Morgan Downey's bio, list of publications and interviews by clicking here.  Also, follow his blog by visiting The Downey Obesity Report.   

Dr. Arya M. Sharma leads curriculum development, course planning, faculty engagement, and content development for Obesity PPM's Clinical Education service line.

Dr. Arya Sharma is widely recognized as one of the world's leading obesity experts and has lectured on the subject all over the world. His research focuses on the evidence-based prevention and management of obesity and its complications and he has been a practicing physician for more than 20 years. Dr. Sharma is also Professor and Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, and the Medical Director of the Alberta Health Services Provincial Obesity Strategy.

In 2005, he spearheaded the launch of the Canadian Obesity Network, which, with well over 8,000 members, has remarkably transformed the landscape of obesity research and management in Canada. He is also a Past-President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons. His research focuses on an evidence-based approach to managing obese patients and includes the development of the Edmonton Obesity Staging System. Dr. Sharma has authored or coauthored more than 300 publications and has lectured widely on the aetiology and management of obesity and related disorders.

Dr. Sharma has served on various committees of The Obesity Society (TOS) including, the Development, Audit, Membership and Executive Search Committees. He is also Founding Faculty of the International Association for the Study of Obesity’s (IASO) Specialist Certification of Obesity Professional Education (SCOPE). Dr. Sharma is regularly featured as a medical expert in national and international TV and print media including the CBC, CTV, New York Times, and MSNBC. Dr. Sharma maintains a widely-read blog where he regularly posts his ideas and thoughts on obesity prevention and management: http://www.drsharma.ca.

A physician specializing in cutting edge and minimally invasive Advanced Laparoscopic and Endoluminal Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Pinnar has successfully treated thousands of obese patients in his clinical practice in the Northern Virginia/ Maryland/Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area, and now in Jacksonville, Florida.  He received his M.D. degree from The Medical College of Virginia/ Virginia Commonwealth University in 1994.  Dr. Pinnar  then completed his General Surgery Internship and Residency at the Guthrie Clinic in Pennsylvania in 1999.  In 1997, during his training at the Guthrie Clinic, he was instrumental in developing a bariatric surgical program and began performing bariatric surgery.  In 2002, he focused his practice on the newest and most advanced surgical procedures, specializing in the Adjustable Gastric Band (Lap-Band®).  Dr. Pinnar founded Advanced Weight Loss Solutions, PC in 2005.  Since that time, he has been committed to reducing the risks and improving the weight loss outcomes of bariatric surgical patients, as well as developing extensive multi-disciplinary clinical orchestration models for obesity comprehensive care. 

In addition to his clinical interest, he is also focused on research and development of emerging technologies. His compassion for the obese population keeps him going in his ever constant vigilance to study and develop newer, more effective, and safer medical and surgical treatments for obesity.  

Dr. Pinnar serves as faculty for multiple industry leaders in bariatric surgical technologies, including Allergan and USGI Medical. He also serves as a clinical consultant to several companies focused on the research and development of the newest surgical instrumentation and technology. Pinnar is a renowned speaker and has numerous speaking engagements at some of the most prestigious conferences that focus on obesity and the treatment of obesity.  He has also made multiple television appearances in both the news media and on several health focused television programs. 

William R. Davis, MD, FACC, Vice President Cardiology

Dr. Davis is a preventative cardiologist whose unique approach to diet and lifestyle allows him to advocate reversal, not just prevention, of heart disease. He is the author of Wheat Belly (August 2011, available at the Obesity PPM bookstore) and Track Your Plaque (available here), founder and Medical Director of the Track Your Plaque online program, and practicing preventative cardiologist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  

The Track Your Plaque online program is devoted to the concept of early detection of heart disease using CT heart scans, along side support for patients from an industry-leading multidiciplinary clinical team. Dr. Davis is a vocal advocate of patient-empowerment strategies to reduce risk of heart disease and a broad spectrum of chronic diseases, including obesity. In his private practice, Dr. Davis has helped thousands not only reverse their heart disease, but during that process, shed excess weight by working with, rather than against, their physiology.

He is a graduate of St. Louis University School of Medicine and obtained his training in medicine and cardiology at the Ohio State University Hospitals and Case-Western Reserve/ MetroHealth Medical Centers. In clinical validation of the Track Your Plaque prevention and treatment model, Dr. Davis published this study, Effect of a Combined Therapeutic Approach of Intensive Lipid Management, Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation, and Increased Serum 25 (OH) Vitamin D on Coronary Calcium Scores in Asymptomatic Adults, in the American Journal of Therapeutics in 2009.

You can keep up with Dr. Davis's writings on his two blogs, Wheat Belly Blog and The Heart Scan Blog, as well as follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Read his 9/4/11 rebuttal to the Grain Foods Foundation's press release about his book, here. When he's not writing, or cooking his unique (and delicious!) wheat-free recipes, he can be found biking, sampling wines with his wife, competing with his sons on XBox, walking his two Boston terriers, or watching his tennis pro daughter, Lauren, in her matches across the U.S, including the 2011 US Open.

Russell C. Libby, MD, FAAP, Vice President Pediatric Obesity

Dr. Libby leads Obesity PPM's childhood obesity prevention, intervention, and policy efforts.  Dr Libby has specialized in advising families on healthy nutrition and been a great advocate for increasing the physical activities for school age children.  He has a keen interest in helping families understand the consequences of obesity and how to work with weight loss options. 

Russell Libby, MD, is also founder, president, and medical director of Virginia Pediatric Group, a primary care pediatric practice with three offices in Northern Virginia, and co-founder, VP, and medical director of American Pediatric Consultants, Inc. a pediatric specialty home care service.  He is chief of general pediatrics at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children and a member of the hospital's leadership committee.  

Dr Libby has been named best pediatrician in the Washington area by Families magazine and is consistently listed as a top doctor by Washingtonian, Northern Virginia, Consumer’s Checkbook, and other local publications. He hosts the television programs “To Your Health” and “Dr. Libby’s World of Medicine,” and has recently published Guidelines for Pediatric Home Health Care for the American Academy of Pediatrics, “The Social, Civic, and Medical Uniqueness of Pediatric Practice” in Art and Practice of Pediatrics, and a chapter on Pediatric Home Health Care for the textbook Pediatric Hospital Medicine.  

He is Vice President of the Medical Society of Virginia and in leadership positions at the American Academy of Pediatrics for whom he has authored the current (2010) AAP policy statement on the Principles of Child Health Financing.

Shawn M. Talbott, PhD, FACSM, Vice President Nutritional Biochemistry & Exercise Science

Dr. Shawn Talbott is the key nutritional and exercise sciences leader at Obesity PPM, contributing broadly to our strategic projects (such as the Twelve Pillars®  Model) and service lines.  Be sure to check out Dr. Talbott's latest book, Vigor: 7 Days to Unlimited Energy, Focus & Well-Being, available at Obesity PPM's bookstore, along with his other works including award-winning obesity documentary, Killer at Large, and The Health Professional's Guide to Dietary Supplements.  

Dr. Talbott received dual Bachelor’s degrees in Sports Medicine (B.S.) and Fitness Management (B.A.) from Marietta College, his Master’s degree (M.S.) in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts, and his Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry from Rutgers University. His research is primarily focused on metabolism, weight loss, sports nutrition, and human performance. Dr. Talbott has also undertaken post-graduate studies in Entrepreneurship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Business as part of MIT’s curriculum with the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) and the highly selective, 3-year Entrepreneurial Masters Program (EMP).

Dr. Talbott is the recipient of a dozen competitive research awards and has published over 200 articles on nutrition, health and fitness. He has served as a nutrition consultant and educator for elite-level athletes in a variety of sports including professional triathletes, members of the Utah Jazz (NBA basketball), the United States Ski and Snowboard Association during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, and the Performance Enhancement Team (PET) for the United States Track and Field Association, and the United States Olympic Training Centers.

As an athlete himself, Shawn has competed at the national and international level in Rowing (as part of the United States National Team Development Program) and Triathlon (completing over 100 marathons, ultramarathons, and triathlons, including 14 at the Ironman distance).

Dr. Talbott has reviewed articles and served on the Editorial Boards for several scientific journals including The Journal of Dietary Supplements, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, The International Journal of Sports Nutrition, Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research, and The Journal of Nutraceuticals, Functional & Medical Foods.  Learn more about Dr. Talbott here.

Bill Bishop, Vice President, Business Development

Bill brings more than 23 years of diversified experience in sales, management, operations and marketing to Obesity PPM, with over 17 of those years dedicated to the obesity space.

Having worked with many technology and medical start-up companies in various capacities such as Covad/Bluestar Communications, XL/Datacomp, ETHICON Endo-Surgery, Smith & Nephew, and Allergan Health, Bill is an industry veteran with a deep understanding of the business of healthcare, and what it takes to bring innovations to market.  Bill has consulted with general surgery and bariatric practices in the areas of financial analysis, practice valuations, mergers, acquisitions, human resource issues, strategic planning, practice efficiency and other general practice management matters. Additional responsibilities include leading the eastern team of Bariatric Practice Advisors and training, development and support within the companies he has been employed.

Prior to assuming the Bariatric Practice Advisors Field Director position at Allergan Health Bill served in a sales capacity with Bioenterics (later INAMED Health) assisting practices in incorporating the LAP-BAND® System procedure into their practice. Specifically, he assisted with reimbursement, insurance coding, practice management, aftercare, and cash-pay program development, marketing and patient acquisition. Before that, he worked for several years with Ethicon Endo-Surgery and Smith & Nephew in various capacities, including two years as a field sales trainer and two years in GPO / IDN negotiations and new product introductions. Bill has also served as a regional director in the telecommunications and computer industry.

He is a frequent guest lecturer for various medical practices, societies and organizations and a contributing editor/author for a wide array of professional publications. Bill received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with minors in mathematics and economics from Georgetown College.

Karl Florence, Director of New Technology Adoption & Reimbursement

Karl Florence has more than twenty years of experience in the medical device industry, having held various positions in sales, managed care, reimbursement strategy, and new technology acceptance and payment for both large corporations and start-up medical device companies.  He is extremely passionate about new technology adoption and patient access to new technologies and enjoys the challenges of start up medical device companies and helping them establish their products and acceptance with payers.  He is knowledgeable in coding for new technologies, evidence and technology assessment with payers, and working with physicians to interact with payers for new medical devices and procedures. 

Karl has worked for several start up medical device companies and helped them secure coding and payment for their products as well as establishing coverage with regional and national payers.  Most recently he was Director of Reimbursement for USGI Medical, a company that developed an incisionless surgery platform for selected primary and revisional bariatric procedures, POSE and ROSE.

He presents regularly at conferences on reimbursement strategies for medical devices.  He is presenting at the Medical Device Coverage and Reimbursement Conference July 25-26 in Chicago.  Karl recently presented at the second annual Life Sciences Financial Forum in May in Phoenix. Previous presentations include Effective Reimbursement Sales Training for Medical Device and Diagnostic Sales in Phoenix and Strategic Reimbursement for Medical Devices and Diagnostics in Minneapolis. 

He has been active with other diseases such as diabetes and has worked on employer health initiatives in the Ohio-Pennsylvania area.  He lives in Western Pennsylvania.

Click here to learn more about Karl.

Dr. Margaret Yúfera-Leitch is an internationally recognized expert in the field of obesity research and human eating motivation. Dr. Leitch brings a unique, quantitative focus to obesity related investigations: with a Masters of Science in Research Methods and Statistics and a PhD in experimental psychology, she has a clear understanding of study design, implementation, and execution. The broad focus of her research is psychology of appetite, which includes aspects of impulse control, effective behaviour modification, cognitive neuroscience, and identifying tailored strategies to maintain a healthy body weight. Dr. Leitch is a visiting Professor at the University of Calgary.

Working extensively in both the UK and North America, Dr. Leitch has been funded by two of the largest grant funding organizations available to scientists (the British Biotechnological Science Research Council (BBSRC), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation). Dr. Leitch has published in both peer reviewed journal articles and popular media, she has co authored two books, Impulses, and Call of the Cookie, where she has demonstrated the link between cognitive neuroscience and appetite control. 

A fundamental interest for Dr. Yufera-Leitch’s is the role impulsivity plays in overeating; her PhD thesis was devoted to understanding the depth of this relationship. She has a thorough understanding of the biopsychological components of eating motivation, and most especially the neuroscientific aspects of impulsivity, pleasure, and addictive behaviors. Dr. Yufera-Leitch’s work addresses our need to ‘simply’ eat less in an environment where our hedonic systems are constantly aroused.

Dr. Yúfera-Leitch spent the earliest part of her career investigating human eating motivation. To this end, she conducted investigations into psychometric diagnostic tests for overeating, psychopharmacological research, and trying to understand whether chewing gum can reduce snacking behavior. The recipient of a British Biotechnological and Science Research Council fellowship, Dr. Yúfera-Leitch investigated human learning and food preferences.

Impulsive-Eating.com is a site developed by Dr. Yúfera-Leitch to help patients struggling with hedonic eating educate themselves, and gain control over their eating behaviors.  Click here to learn more about Dr. Yúfera-Leitch.

David Mahony, PhD, ABPP, Director, Behavioral Healthcare Assessment Instruments

Dr. Mahony received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from St. John’s University in 1997 and in 2001 began conducting psychological evaluations for bariatric surgery candidates. It soon became apparent that little empirical data was available regarding surgery candidates. In fact, little was known about the psychosocial changes that occur after bariatric surgery and no psychological tests were designed or validated for this population.

In an effort to address these limitations, Dr. Mahony developed and validated a psychological test designed specifically to assess psychosocial concerns specific to bariatric patients.  Using the PsyBari, clinicians were now able to confidently assess a patient’s risk for complications specific to bariatric surgery. Additionally, the data collected from the test was used to build a knowledge base of this population. Dr. Mahony published the findings and began to clarify some of the realities of this patient popluation while eradicating some of the myths.

By 2006, Dr. Mahony was working exclusively for bariatric surgery programs. His research continued to focus on identifying patients at risk for post surgical problems, and through this work, he discovered an additional problem. In spite of all the benefits of bariatric surgery, less than 1% of the eligible patients received the procedure. Even amongst patients that were preparing for the surgery, 30% dropped out. Further research revealed that the high attrition rate was due to fear of surgery and the patients’ belief that they could lose the weight on their own. With this knowledge, Dr. Mahony began developing clinical programs to address these barriers and allow more patients to experience the health benefits of the substantial weight loss achieved through bariatric surgery.

In addition to his work with Obestiy PPM, Dr. Mahony works with patients that have become physically disabled due to obesity. He also continues to work with bariatric surgery programs developing systems to identify patients at risk for post surgical complications and to decrease the number of patients that drop out.

Bernard Sklar, MD, MS, Director Online CME Technology & Usability

As Director, CME Technology & Usability, Dr. Sklar will be a key contributor to the ongoing development of our clinical education service line. As you may know, Obesity PPM is working in joint sponsorship with The Obesity Society and our technology partner Info-Surge on the development of an accredited, 24-CME-hour curriculum to deliver obesity education to primary care providers via an innovative and scalable online delivery infrastructure. Dr. Sklar's deep expertise in technology and web-based CME delivery, and strong background in adult education theory, will help ensure our offerings are world-class.

In addition to his focus on medical informatics, Dr. Sklar has practiced for 20 years as a family physician and psychiatrist, and is boarded in both disciplines. He has long been interested in the interface between physical and psychological medicine, and brought his expertise to Medscape during their period of most rapid growth. Dr. Sklar has been driving excellence in the arena of online Continuing Medical Education (CME) since 1995. For the past 15 years, he has maintained the "Annotated List of Online Continuing Medical Education" (CMEList.com) web site. In this capacity he has critiqued over 300 web sites offering online CME. He has consulted with owners of CME sites who wished to improve their usability, and served as a CME surveyor for the Institute of Medical Quality of the California Medical Association. Dr. Sklar is a member of the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions and is also certified by the National Commission for Certification of CME Professionals.

Dr. Sklar's other major interest has been in the implementation of EMR and practice management systems that can help physicians improve their care of patients by providing the information they need for diagnosis and treatment. The University of California, San Francisco awarded Dr. Sklar a Master of Science Degree in Medical Information Science in 2000; his complete CV is available here.

Jennifer Abbamonte, Director of Operations

With a strong background in management and operations, Jennifer is extremely passionate about the affecting the "Big Picture" of obesity.  In her career, she has both worked her way up through the ranks, and successfully identified top talent for development.  As a leader in a variety of positions, she has mastered the ability to identify and develop people.  Her peers have consistently looked to her for leadership and a decisive, informed voice.  Her management style has historically captured both her leaders and employees.  Jennifer is extremely excited to be with Obesity PPM - it's the perfect intersection of her passion and talent.  Having first hand experience with the life-altering change that comes from the resolution of obesity, she's equally excited and determined to continue to build an organization of equally passionate people.

At Obesity PPM, Jennifer manages a wide variety of operational and human resources functions.  Having been with the company since it's earliest stages, she has been a significant part of the thought leadership and development.  An innovator at heart, she  is motivated by challenge and brings the kind of "out of the box" mentality that we are known for.  Her history in operational management, including that specifically in the setting of a bariatric medical practice, has left her the ability to respond as quickly as she thinks, and the acumen to make strategic decisions with confidence. 

Jennifer was born in the Washington, DC area and loves living in the city as well as traveling domestically and abroad.

Ada Van Hecke, Bariatric Systems Analyst 

Ada came to Obesity PPM with a diverse background including all kinds of technology: graphic design, print production, database design and conversion, EMR implementation and management, workflow and process design, and for the last four years played a critical role in the daily management of a high-volume bariatric surgical practice.  In this role, she focused primarily on patient education, administration, clinical optimization, and technology. 

Being involved in a variety of projects, Ada has a unique perspective on how to manage and optimize efficiencies in both small and large-scale operations.  Her experience combines technology, media, depth in bariatrics, and a variety of creative skills.  Ada's approach to every project is the same: identify needs, create a solution that anticipates every possible obstacle, and most importantly, maximize efficiency for our clients.  

Ada and her family live in northern Maryland surrounded by small farms.  She enjoys calm living, and spends her free time gardening, exploring the beautiful landscapes near her home and making artwork in clay, photography, and a variety of digital and mixed medias.