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Growth of IFSO’s Regional Chapters







                          The European Chapter (IFSO-EC)
                          Martin Fried


                 At the turn of the millennium, a group of European surgeons focused on metabolic bariatric surgery
                 (MBS), most of whom were personally involved in establishing IFSO, began discussions about the
                 specific needs of MBS surgeons and patients throughout Europe. The informal group worked to
                 develop initial surgical treatment algorithms and guidelines in relation to the regulatory and
                 economic governance of European countries.  Toward that aim, beginning in 2002, numerous
                 meetings of active and determined MBS practitioners in Europe took place, eventually resulting in
                 the formal organization of the European Chapter of IFSO, a regional subgroup under the umbrella
                 of the global IFSO organization. Early participants included Nicola Scopinaro (Italy), Martin Fried
                 (Czech Republic), Luigi  Angrisani (Italy),  Jerome Dargent (France),  Jan  Willem Greve (The
                 Netherlands), Jacques Himpens (Belgium), Jean-Marc Chevallier (France), Luc Lemmens (Belgium),
                 John Melissas (Greece), Michel Suter (Switzerland), Rudolf Weiner (Germany), Yuri Yashkov (Russia).
                 The  chapter  was  unofficially  established  in  2004  and  became  officially  recognized  by  the  IFSO
                 Executive Board at the IFSO World Congress in Maastricht, Netherlands in 2005.

                 The first elected officers of the IFSO-EC in 2004 were: Nicola Scopinaro (Honorary President), Martin
                 Fried (Executive Director, President of the 1st IFSO-EC Symposium-Prague 2004), and  Jerome
                 Dargent (IFSO-EC President-Elect).

                 In the following years these IFSO-EC Presidents were:














                   Jerome Dargent    Luc Lemmens      Rudolf Weiner      Yuri Yashkov    Alberic Fiennes
                      FRANCE           BELGIUM          GERMANY            RUSSIA       UNITED KINGDOM
                     2006–2008         2008–2010         2010–2012        2012–2014         2014–2016













                    Michel Suter    Gerhard Prager  Jean-Marc Chevallier Nicola Di Lorenzo  Paulina Salminen
                   SWITZERLAND         AUSTRIA           FRANCE             ITALY           FINLAND
                     2016–2018         *2018–2021       2021–2023         2023–2025         2025-2027


                                       *Gerhard Prager - time extended due to COVID-19




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