My priority as the director of bariatric surgery and assistant professor in the University of Florida Department of Surgery is to provide quality results and patient satisfaction. I aim to treat my patients like my own family members. Bariatric surgery allows me to give patients a chance to live a healthier and longer life, which is initially what led me to surgery. My research interests include the metabolic and cognitive effects of bariatric surgery, resolution of comorbidities following bariatric surgery and long-term effects of bariatric surgery.

My training began at the University of Mississippi, where I earned my medical degree. Then, I went on to complete my general surgery residency at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama and Mary Imogene Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, New York, where I subsequently served as a research fellow at the Mary Imogene Bassett Research Institute. Additionally, I completed a minimally invasive surgery/bariatric surgery fellowship at Sacred Heart Health System in Pensacola, Florida.

Prior to my arrival at UF, I worked as an assistant medical director of the Sacred Heart Institute for Medical Weight Loss, as medical director of the Baptist Healthcare Bariatric Program in Pensacola and as chief of the minimally invasive surgery/bariatric program at Previty Clinic for Surgical Care in Beaumont, Texas. I am a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Pensacola Surgical Society and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeons. I have twice received the American Medical Association’s Physician’s Recognition Award.

When not practicing at UF Health Shands Hospital, I enjoying spending time with my children and staying active, jogging and hiking.