2023 Upper Midwest Osteopathic Health Conference: Obesity Track

Carolynn Francavilla, MD Related Seminars and Products

Carolynn Francavilla, MD is Board Certified in Family Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.  She owns and operates Green Mountain Partners for Health and Colorado Weight Care in Denver, Colorado.  Dr. Francavilla is a nationally recognized obesity expert, lecturing to clinicians on the topic of obesity as well as teaching through her own platform HelpYourPatientsLoseWeight.com. She also hosts The Doctor Francavilla Show, a podcast about weight and health.  She serves on the Obesity Medicine Association Board of Trustees and was awarded the Dr. Vernon B. Astler Award for dedicated service and support of OMA in 2017.  Dr. Francavilla is also an Assistant Professor at Rocky Vista University and Volunteer Faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.  Dr. Francavilla is committed to protecting private medical practices as she believes they offer the best care for patients.  She has been elected as Chair-elect for the AMA’s Private Practice Physician Section.

Sara Schwatken, PhD, LP, HSPP Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Sara Schwatken is a licensed psychologist practicing in Fort Dodge, IA. Dr. Schwatken has extensive training in the field of eating disorders and specializes in eating disorder treatment, with a focus on binge eating disorder and atypical anorexia. Dr. Schwatken has also submitted her application for board certification with the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals and hopes to receive her Certified Eating Disorder Specialist designation in the coming weeks. Dr. Schwatken has served on the board of the Eating Disorder Coalition of Iowa since 2020 and is proud to be finishing her year as board president as part of EDCI’s presidential triad. During her time as president, Dr. Schwatken oversaw the reorganization of the non-profit, allowing for the organization to have greater reach to Iowans than ever before. She is also spearheading a new Healthcare Training Initiative to reduce weight stigma and encourage a weight-neutral approach to healthcare for physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals. In her free time, Dr. Schwatken enjoys cooking and experiencing the rollercoaster of emotions in being an Iowa State athletics fan.

Vanitha Singram, MD Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Vanitha Singaram, MD is board certified in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism, Obesity Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine. She did her Internal Medicine residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and an Endocrine fellowship at the University of Vermont. She moved back to Iowa in 2007 and joined Iowa Diabetes and Endocrinology center, now MercyOne Diabetes & Endocrinology. She is very passionate about addressing the root cause of chronic diseases and has been focusing her attention more towards disease reversal and prevention. She believes in educating and empowering patients and communities with the tools & resources necessary to improve their health span and quality of life.

Lena Rydberg, DO Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Rydberg is board certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine and practices in West Des Moines at Iowa Clinic. Her passion is care for patients who live with obesity and diabetes along with associated comorbidities. Her practice reflects that with >40% of her panel with at least one of those diagnoses. Patients with these disorders have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Consequently, Dr. Rydberg has been involved in the Des Moines Board for the American Heart Association since 2017. She served as Board President in 2019-2020 and 2022-2023. On their behalf she has done a variety of speaking engagements on the prevention of cardiac disease through dietary measures and workplace wellness programs along with advocacy at the state and national level for better community access to foods that reduce the risk of cardiac disease.

She also enjoys clinical research and has been involved as a sub investigator and principal investigator in phase 2 and 3 clinical research trials at Iowa Clinic since 2016. In 2022 she accepted the position as the Assistant Medical Director of Research at Iowa Clinic. In her time away from work she and her husband Brad enjoy hiking and biking with their 4 children-preferably in locations with unreliable internet connectivity.  

Richard Deming, MD Related Seminars and Products

Richard L. Deming, MD is Medical Director of MercyOne Cancer Center in Des Moines, Iowa. He received a bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University and his medical degree from Creighton University. Dr. Deming is known in the community for the compassionate care he provides cancer patients and their families. He is involved in many national, state, and community organizations and is the recipient of numerous awards. He was awarded the Lane Adams Award by the American Cancer Society for excellence and compassion in patient care. He is the recipient of “the one hundred” Award by Massachusetts General Hospital for his work with cancer survivors. He was awarded the Iowa Cancer Champion Award for his tireless efforts in the field of advocacy. He received the Iowa Star Award from the Des Moines Register for making a measurable difference within the community and improving the quality of life for Iowans everywhere. He was awarded the St. George National Medal by the American Cancer Society for leadership in reducing the burden of cancer.

Dr. Deming is also the founder of Above + Beyond Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to elevating the lives of those touched by cancer. Dr. Deming has led cancer survivors on medical missions and inspirational mind-body-spirit pilgrimages to Mount Everest, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Machu Picchu. He is inspired by the courage and compassion of his patients and their families. His greatest ambition is to encourage others to pursue lives of meaning, purpose, passion, and compassion.

Todd Eibes, MD, FACS Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Todd Eibes, MD, FACS is a bariatric surgery specialist at the Iowa Specialty Hospital. He had the opportunity to work with Dr. Ed Mason during medical school at the University of Iowa. Dr. Mason was the founder of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and first performed some of the common bariatric surgeries that we do today. Dr. Eibes began his career as a general surgeon doing some bariatric surgery, but his passion for bariatrics has led him to focus on that exclusively since 2006. He believes obesity is a terrible epidemic and that we have highly effective treatment options that are vastly underutilized. He doesn't believe that the best results can be achieved using survey, medicine, psychiatric care, or behavior modification alone and that much better results are obtained when a team of these specialists work together. He believes we are currently living in an era when people are starting to realize the importance of treating obesity to resolve to comorbidities. The biggest change that he has seen over the past 20 years is we finally have very low risk surgical options combined with effective medications, and these effective tools allow us to give our patients hope in treating their obesity.

Tyler Aasen, DO Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Tyler Aasen is a gastroenterology located in Des Moines Iowa at The Iowa Clinic. He attended osteopathic medical school at Des Moines University where he trained in the greater Des Moines area. Dr. Aasen completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Arizona in Phoenix Arizona and completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at East Tennessee State University. He returned to the Des Moines area to practice gastroenterology in 2020. His clinical interests include IBS, GERD, celiac disease, and liver disease.

Thomas Heineman, MD Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Heineman is currently a practicing otolaryngologist - head and neck surgeon (ENT) in Cedar Rapids. He received his undergraduate education at the University Iowa and his medical school education at Weill Cornell Medical College. He completed his ENT residency at UCLA. He currently treats patients with sinus disorders, sleep apnea and sleep surgery, head and neck cancer, as well as voice and swallowing disorders. He is an early adopter of biomedical technology both in the operating room and the clinic. He is the author of over 50 peer-reviewed publications and national and international presentations. He is board certified by the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and neck surgery.

Jennifer Groos, MD, FAAP Related Seminars and Products

Dr. Groos earned her medical degree from the University of Iowa College of Medicine and completed a pediatrics residency at University of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital in Madison, WI. She returned to Iowa in 2004 and joined Blank Children’s Hospital General Pediatric Department. After practicing there for 16 years, she joined PHC, Inc, the Federally Qualified Health Center in Des Moines, Iowa in 2020 as a general pediatrician. Dr. Groos also works part-time with Iowa Primary Care Association as clinical leadership consultant.  She is an adjunct faculty member with the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa.  She is active in community and legislative advocacy and health eating and active living promotion with many partners within the state. Dr. Groos currently serves as Faculty for the AAP Rural Health Obesity ECHO.  She serves the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Obesity as Executive Committee member and Co-chair for the A Childhood Obesity Advisor Network (COACH).   While at Blank she founded the Healthy Kids Program.  She is a past-president of the Iowa Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, chair of the chapter committee on legislation, and founder and chair of the chapter committee on obesity.  She received the 2018 Iowa Medical Society Physician Community Service Award for her statewide childhood obesity work.  

Rachelle McCabe, DNP, ARNP, FNP-C Related Seminars and Products

My name is Rachelle McCabe, I am a family nurse practitioner with Iowa Weight Loss Specialists.  I specialize in medical weight loss and work with patients through the bariatric surgery process including presurgical counseling and long-term post-op care.  I graduated with my Doctor of Nursing practice degree from the University of Iowa where I completed my graduate project on how patients with obesity are treated in primary care.  I researched the stigma and deficiencies in care surrounding individuals struggling with this disease, which are many.  I have had the pleasure to meet with experts working in the field of obesity medicine throughout my studies and career.  I felt called to form a collaborative of interested healthcare professionals across the state to discuss trends, standards of practice, and concerns surrounding the care of patients with obesity in Iowa.  I established the Iowa Obesity Society, LLC early last year.  I am also a member of the American Nurses Association, Iowa Nurses Association, Iowa Nurse Practitioners’ Society, The American Association of Nurse Practitioners, PEO, and the Obesity Medicine Association.      

Karli Burridge, PA-C, MSS, FOMA Related Seminars and Products

Karli Burridge is a Physician Associate and a Fellow of the Obesity Medicine Association. She is the co-founder and President of PAs in Obesity Medicine and serves on the Board for the Illinois Obesity Society. Karli is the owner of Gaining Health, where they offer a roadmap, resources, and support for clinicians who want to start an obesity management program. She is also the host of the Gaining Heath podcast, and she works clinically at Ascension Medical Weight Loss Solutions in Westmont, Illinois. Karli holds the Certificate of Advanced Education in obesity management. She is the recipient of Obesity Medicine Association’s 2020 Dr. Raymond E. Dietz Meritorious Service Award, the 2018 Dr. Vernon B. Astler Award, and the 2017 Committee Leadership Award.