Dr. Hutcher is Chairman of the Board and a member of the Executive Committee. He has served as the chairman of the Department of Surgery at St. Mary's Hospital and also as clinical associate professor of surgery at both the Medical College of Virginia and McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. He received his medical degree in 1965 from the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Hutcher's clinical expertise is in bariatric surgery as well as general and laparoscopic surgery. His efforts have been directed toward education of the general public as well as legislative lobbying both on the federal and state level. He is past president of the ASMBS. Dr. Hutcher and his program are designated as an ASMBS BSCOE^®.

John W. Baker, M.D., FACS
Little Rock, Arkansas

Dr. Baker has been in private practice in Little Rock, Arkansas since 1992. Dr. Baker completed a six-year accelerated medical degree program through Louisiana State University Medical Center at Shreveport in 1983. He completed his General Surgery training in 1988 at LSU Hospital in Shreveport. He is a member of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity, American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association and the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. He has worked on numerous committees of the ASMBS. Dr. Baker is Secretary-Treasurer for NOVUS Insurance Company. He has also participated in the International Bariatric Surgery Registry (IBSR) and served on its Medical Advisory Committee. Dr. Baker and his program are designated as an ASMBS BSCOE. He serves on the Board as President-elect of the ASMBS.

Robin P. Blackstone, M.D., FACS
Surgeon and Director, Scottsdale Bariatric Center
Medical Director, Scottsdale Healthcare Bariatric Program
Scottsdale, Arizona

Dr. Blackstone is Director of the Scottsdale Bariatric Center and Medical Director of the Scottsdale Healthcare Bariatric Program — all are designated as ASMBS BSCOE. She is a former member of SRC’s Bariatric Surgery Review Committee. Dr. Blackstone received her medical degree in 1988 from the University of Texas at San Antonio and holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Arizona. She completed a General Surgery residency at the University of Colorado in 1993 with special interest in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery and Surgical Oncology. Following her residency, Dr. Blackstone served as Director of Women's Health Services at Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, California. She returned to Arizona in 1996 and established a private practice in Scottsdale, specializing in Advanced Laparoscopic General Surgery and Surgical Oncology. From 1997 to 2000, she was Chairman of the Scottsdale Healthcare Cancer Committee, leading the team to achieve designation as a Cancer Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and acting as Cancer Liaison to the ACS. In partnership with Scottsdale Healthcare, Dr. Blackstone built a multidisciplinary comprehensive team that began offering weight loss surgery to patients in November 2001. She is a member of the ASMBS, SSAT and SAGES and serves as a consultant and proctor for Ethicon Endo-Surgery. Dr. Blackstone and her program are designated as an ASMBS BSCOE.

Don W. Bradley, M.D., MHS-CL
Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Healthcare
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
Durham, North Carolina

Dr. Bradley is Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Healthcare of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. He is a board certified family physician and a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He has faculty appointments at both Duke and UNC, where he continues to teach and collaborate on research projects. He received his medical degree in 1976 from the Medical College of Virginia; completed a Family Practice residency at the Polyclinic Medical Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and a Kellogg Family Medicine Fellowship in Faculty Development at Duke-Watts Family Medicine Program. In 2002, he received a master’s degree in Health Sciences in Clinical Leadership from Duke University. He serves on the North Carolina State Health Coordinating Council, the Executive Committee of the National Medical Management Forum, and BCBS National Council of Physician Executives. Dr. Bradley was instrumental in the launch of BCBSNC’s own bariatric surgery centers of excellence program. He represents health plans on SRC’s Board and serves on the Executive Committee.

Henry Buchwald, M.D., FACS
Professor of Surgery
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Dr. Buchwald has a dual appointment as Professor of Surgery and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He received his medical degree from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Surgery from the University of Minnesota. An experience surgeon, his research interests include cholesterol/ atherosclerosis, obesity surgery, implantable devices and hyperlipidemias. Dr. Buchwald has significant experience in the field of bariatric surgery and is a fellow and past president of numerous professional societies including the ASMBS, International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity (IFSO) and Central Surgical Association. He has served as Governor of the ACS, Director of the ACS Bariatric Surgery Primer Course and chairs the ACS National Faculty of Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Buchwald is an extensive author and serves on numerous editorial boards. He is the first author on metaanalysis of the bariatric world literature focusing on the effect of bariatric surgery on the comorbid conditions of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea. He also wrote the ACS Bariatric Surgery Primer CD-ROM and ACS Guidelines for Bariatric Surgery Centers and was senior editor of a bariatric surgery textbook. In 2009, he will assume the Co-Editor-in-Chief position of Obesity Surgery. Dr. Buchwald founded and chairs the Obesity Coalition, an organization representing nearly every major U.S. group whose mission involves obesity management and research on a national level. Dr. Buchwald and his program are designated as an ASMBS BSCOE.

Walter J. Pories, M.D., FACS
Chairman Emeritus, Board of Directors
Surgical Review Corporation
Director, Metabolic Institute and
Professor of Surgery, Biochemistry, Exercise
and Sport Science
Department of Surgery, Brody School of Medicine  
East Carolina University
Greenville, North Carolina

Dr. Pories is an experienced bariatric surgeon who serves as Director of the Metabolic Institute at East Carolina University (ECU). He is also the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded ECU National Center for the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery, as well as other research programs funded by the Johnson & Johnson Corporation and Golden LEAF. Dr. Pories has served as the president of the ASMBS and past president of the North Carolina Medical Board. He is a SRC founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Board. His facility is designated as an ASMBS BSCOE.

Gary M. Pratt
Chief Executive Officer
Surgical Review Corporation
Raleigh, North Carolina

Mr. Pratt, the Chief Executive Officer of Surgical Review Corporation, graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and accounting. Mr. Pratt has started several successful businesses and was a partner in a national accounting firm. He serves on the Board’s Executive Committee.

James W. Saxton
Chair of the Health Care Litigation Group
Co-chair of the Health Care Department
Stevens & Lee
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Mr. Saxton, Chairman of Stevens & Lee's Health Care Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the firm's Health Care Department, has represented physicians in state and federal courts for over 25 years. Mr. Saxton uses his extensive experience as a litigator to advise bariatric surgeons throughout the United States in connection with understanding and reducing their professional liability risk and develops risk reduction strategies and educational programs to support them. In addition, Mr. Saxton was one of the individuals who helped create NOVUS, a risk retention group for bariatric and general surgeons. A graduate of Duquesne Law School, he has published more than 200 articles, several handbooks and seven textbooks and lectures frequently across the country on health care issues and as an invited speaker at national bariatric programs. Mr. Saxton is a fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the oldest professional medical organization in the country. He represents medical liability insurance company stakeholders and serves on the Board’s Executive Committee.

Dr. Still is the Director for the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Geisinger Health Care System and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nutrition at Penn State. He holds a Master’s degree in human nutrition from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, and an osteopathic medical degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. His work includes research into genetic markers for obesity and diabetes; the metabolic differences among obese, formerly obese, and normal-weight men; metabolic and psychologic changes in bariatric surgery patients; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in obese females and leptin level determination among elderly obese women. Dr. Still is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Nutrition and the American College of Nutrition, among many others. His interest in nutrition and weight management stems from his personal experiences with obesity and successful weight loss. Dr. Still’s program and facility are designated as an ASMBS BSCOE. He represents bariatric physicians (non-surgeons) on SRC’s Board.