Special Interview with Prof. Michel Gagner-Winner of SAGES Foundation's Annual George Berci Lifetime Achievement Award

On July 19, 2024, the Editorial Office of Mini-invasive Surgery (MIS) had the privilege of interviewing Prof. Michel Gagner, the Honorary Editor-in-Chief of MIS from the Westmount Square Surgical Center, Quebec, Canada.

Prof. Gagner was honored with the prestigious SAGES Foundation's Annual George Berci Lifetime Achievement Award on April 17, 2024. His international recognition for his significant influence and expertise in the field of minimally invasive surgery, especially in endoscopic surgery, adds an extra layer of excitement to this interview.

Here are details of the interview:

Q1: What does this award mean to you personally and professionally?

Q2: Who have been your biggest influences or mentors throughout your career?

Q3: As we all know you are the pioneer of the use of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy. Are there any emerging technologies or methodologies that particularly excite you in endoscopic surgery?

Q4: Can you share any upcoming projects or areas of research you are particularly excited about?

Q5: Apart from the academic activities, we would like to know what hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of your professional life?

Profile:

Michel Gagner is a professor of surgery at Florida International University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Cornell University Weill Medical College. He serves as the Chairman of the ASMBS project at the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the Honorary Editor-in-Chief of the MIS journal, and the Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, the Head of the laparoscopic and bariatric surgery department, and the Chief of the surgical department at Mount Sinai Medical Center. He is also a pioneer in the use of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Prof. Michel Gagner was born in 1960 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He earned a Diploma in Sciences at the Seminaire de Sherbrooke in 1978 and an M.D. from the Faculté de Médecine de l'Université de Sherbrooke in 1982. He completed his surgical training at McGill University in Montreal from 1982 to 1988. During his residency, he undertook a two-year Ph.D. program on human lipolysis in sepsis at the Royal Victoria Hospital at McGill University from 1984 to 1986. Prof. Gagner also completed fellowships in hepatic surgery at Hospital Villejuif in Paris, France, and pancreaticobiliary surgery at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, from 1989 to 1990.

Upon completion of his fellowships, he was recruited to Université de Montréal, School of Medicine, Hôtel-Dieu de Montreal, where he was Assistant Professor of Surgery from 1990 to 1995. Following this, Prof. Gagner worked at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland where he co-founded the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center from 1995 to 1998. He was appointed the Franz Sichel Professor of Surgery and Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York from 1998 to 2003. He subsequently joined Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York as Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Section of Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery from 2003 to 2007. Until recently, he served as Chair of the Department of Surgery at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami and Professor of Surgery at Florida International University. He is currently a Professor of Surgery in Montreal.

Prof. Gagner is renowned for his contributions in the field of Minimally Invasive Surgery, in particular the first description of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome and pheochromocytoma in 1992, laparoscopic pancreatectomy, distal and proximal from 1992 to 1993, endoscopic neck surgery with parathyroidectomy in 1995, transgastric cholecystectomy in 1997, laparoscopic duodenal switch for obesity in 1999, and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 2000. More recently, Prof. Gagner was co-surgeon for the first world transatlantic robotic cholecystectomy between New York City and Strasbourg, France. It is the only surgical article published in Nature in 2001.

He has over 300 published journal articles, 40 book chapters, and eight books on minimally invasive surgery. He has been a visiting professor and operated in over 60 institutions across 48 countries. He has held prominent positions in more than 35 societies and organizations and has served on the editorial boards of 12 surgical journals.

Prof. Gagner has received a number of honorary memberships and awards throughout his career. His most recent contributions focus on innovative upper digestive tract surgery such as bariatric and endoluminal gastric procedures.

Research

Prof. Gagner’s surgical research began in 1984. His passion for surgical experimentation has led to multiple discoveries and new approaches. His most significant contributions have been in the fields of laparoscopic removal of adrenal tumors, laparoscopic surgery of the pancreas, endoscopic removal of parathyroid and thyroid tumors, robotic surgery, laparoscopic duodenal switch and sleeve gastrectomy for obesity and diabetes.

Ongoing Special Issue led by Prof. Michel Gagner “Minimally Invasive Treatment of Bariatric Surgery”. Welcome to participate if you’re interested, please contact editorialoffice@misjournal.net for more info.

Submission:

https://oaemesas.com/login?JournalId=mis&SpecialIssueId=mis240511

Editor: Irene Liu
Language Editor: Emma Chen
Production Editor: Yan Zhang
Respectfully Submitted by the Journal Editorial Office
Mini-invasive Surgery