Dr ROBERT CYWES MD, PhD

Dr. Cywes is Board Certified in general surgery and is fellowship trained in pediatric surgery. He specializes in pediatric and adult bariatric surgery. He has been doing bariatric surgery for 15 years and has performed around
6 000 surgeries. His medical training began in Cape Town, South Africa where he received his medical degree from The University of Cape Town.

In 1989, Dr. Cywes moved to North America and completed a year-long residency in pediatric surgery at Ohio State University's Columbus Children's Hospital before moving to Canada where he completed his general surgery residency and specialized in minimally invasive surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Cywes also earned a PhD in liver transplant immunology and the effect of glucose metabolism.

After completing his pediatric surgery fellowship at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital, Dr. Cywes was appointed as an assistant Professor of Pediatric and Fetal Surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee where he did hepatic stem cell research. During this time, Dr. Cywes became increasingly interested in adolescent obesity and the impact of the liver and  metabolic syndrome on young patients. Dr. Cywes’ research led to a comprehensive understanding of the toxicity of chronic excessive carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of obesity and so-called obesity-related co-morbidities, and he became interested in developing a clinical program to treat obese adolescents using this knowledge. Dr. Cywes relocated to Jacksonville, Florida where he joined the Department of Pediatric Surgery at the Nemours Children's Clinic and Wolfson Children's Hospital. This led to a national meeting in Jacksonville where guidelines for adolescent obesity surgery were established.

In 2004, Dr. Cywes established Jacksonville Surgical Associates to continue his work in both adolescent and adult obesity treatment and surgery, and in 2013 opened a practice in West Palm Beach and Jupiter Florida with Tenet Healthcare. He now works with a highly experienced team of professionals from a variety of medical sub-specialties to better care for obese patients. He has developed the practice into a nationally recognized Center of Excellence for obesity surgery. The practice uses a cognitive behavioral therapy approach that addresses carbohydrate addiction, along with bariatric surgery, to help patients manage their obesity long term. Based on his extensive clinical research and observations, Dr. Cywes lectures internationally regarding the physiological impact of carbohydrate consumption as the primary cause of the current Chronic Non-Communicable Disease (CNCDs) epidemic. He also lectures on the behavioral aspects of carbohydrate addiction as the cause of obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities and the use of substance abuse methodology, rather than a diet and exercise approach, to the effective long term treatment of obesity.

Dr. Cywes is a member of ASMBS (American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery) and is a member of the ASMBS Childhood Obesity Committee. He has earned a Centers of Excellence designation by the Surgical Review Corporation. Dr. Cywes is a proctor for the LAP-BAND system, training other surgeons to perform the operation. Dr. Cywes and his team are active in obesity research, including an ongoing Adolescent Bariatric Surgery trial. He has become one of the foremost authorities in the treatment and management of obesity in adolescents. Dr. Cywes' vast experience in pediatric and general surgery serves him well in using bariatric surgery to treat obesity in both adults and children.

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