Dr. Drake Bellanger is one of the few physicians Board Certified in obesity medicine in the Baton Rouge region. His certification by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) signifies specialized knowledge in the practice of obesity medicine and care. He is also board certified in general surgery and practiced bariatric surgery for over twenty years. Dr. Bellanger’s in-depth knowledge of weight loss from medicine to surgery provides him a unique perspective on helping patients achieve their personal goals.

Amanda Fontenot has been treating Obesity since 2011, completing ABOM diplomate status in 2014. After incorporating Obesity Medicine (OM) into her primary care practice with Ochsner Westbank, she moved to the Bariatric Surgery department at Ochsner Jefferson Highway, developing a complex, robust and rewarding full time OM practice. In 2021, they also became a center for excellence for Obesity Medicine through the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP). She teaches residents, give academic talks and is an active member of the Obesity Medicine Association, acting as the Louisiana State Advocacy Representative and sitting on the Bariatric surgery/Obesity Medicine committee.

Dr. Gilbert Hebert is an internal medicine and obesity medicine specialist who completed a fellowship in obesity medicine at the University of Colorado. He returned to Tulane University as a faculty member where he did my internal medicine residency. He is a South Louisiana native practicing exclusively in New Orleans metro area. His primary interests in obesity include patient advocacy, equitable access to treatment, cardiometabolic risk reduction, and comprehensive care models.

Dr. Philip Schauer is the United Companies Life Insurance Co./Mary Kay and Terrell Brown Professor of Metabolic Surgery at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, USA. He is past president of ASMBS and founder of Obesity Week. He has performed more than 8000 operations for obesity and diabetes and published more than 400 peer-reviewed articles in high impact journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, JAMA, and Lancet. He is the Principal Investigator of the STAMPEDE trial which showed that surgery can cause long-term diabetes remission.

Catherine is a gastroenterologist specializing in bariatric endoscopy and obesity medicine. She is the Director of Obesity Medicine at University Medicine Center New Orleans. She is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at LSU Medical School in New Orleans.

Katie E. Queen, MD, is a pediatrician who is passionate about nutrition and prevention of chronic disease in children. She is board certified in both Pediatrics and Obesity Medicine and directs a pediatric multidisciplinary weight management clinic at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA - where she takes care of the most severe cases of pediatric obesity in Louisiana. She also takes care of patients with obesity in her pediatric rural practice at Our Lady of the Angels in Bogalusa, Louisiana. She co-leads the Louisiana state AAP chapter committee on obesity and nutrition and is an active member of the Louisiana Obesity and Diabetes Commission. Dr. Queen has spoken on obesity treatment at the state and national level and is a strong advocate for improved access to evidence based care for children with obesity. In her free time, she enjoys time with her three daughters, being outdoors, travel, and cooking.

Dr. Marcella Houser is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at LSUHSC New Orleans School of Medicine. She specializes in general pediatrics and obesity medicine at DePaul Community Health Center in Metairie. Dr. Houser started her career teaching 10th grade Biology in Compton, California which fueled her passion for working with young people. She completed her residency and chief residency at LSUHSC and Children’s Hospital in New Orleans. She has served as an academic pediatrician for nine years, caring for patients alongside resident physicians and training Louisiana’s future pediatricians. Additionally, Dr. Houser is certified in Obesity Medicine since 2019 and strives to help children and adolescents with the chronic disease of obesity. Her interests include improving resident education, health care access for under-resourced communities and obesity prevention and treatment methods.

Dr. Levy is double board certified in General Surgery and Obesity Medicine. She is fellowship trained in Minimally Invasive Surgery with an emphasis on Foregut and Bariatric Surgery; and is the Medical Director of the Tulane Bariatric and Weight Loss Center. Dr. Levy’s focus is on fitness, weight loss and nutrition. She is passionate about helping patients treat the disease of obesity and presents as an advocate for patient access to care. She specializes in anti-obesity medications as well as surgical weight loss treatments including vertical sleeve gastrectomy, roux en y gastric bypass and duodenal switch. She is determined to work closely with patients for the best treatment in the disease of obesity including medication, surgery, or both.  In addition to all the above, the clinic is suited to help patients who have experienced weight gain after bariatric surgery. Dr. Levy is dedicated and will work with each patient to help achieve long term weight loss.

Dr. Cook is the Medical Director of the Center for Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery at University Medical Center--New Orleans. He is also the associate program director for the LSU/Pennington Bariatric Surgery Fellowship. He has a passion for caring for patients with obesity, particularly those that are underserved due to insurance status, extremes of BMI, and complex revisions. He is chair of the insurance committee for ASMBS and actively involved in advocating for comprehensive treatment of obesity including medication, surgery, endoscopic treatments, nutrition consultation and physical therapy.

Dr Sharan has earned her medical degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India. She completed her Family Medicine residency from LSU Health Sciences-Shreveport, EA Conway Hospital, Monroe, LA. She elected to stay on as faculty and has since then devoted her time to teaching medical students & residents as well as having her own primary care clinic at the hospital. She is currently practising as Assistant Professor, Family Medicine at Ochsner LSU Health Sciences Shreveport , Monroe Medical Centre, Monroe, LA . She is the Clerkship Director for the LSU-Shreveport medical students rotating on Family Medicine at Monroe.  She is an active member of the Obesity Medicine Association, serving on their Advocacy Committee, The Obesity Society, and the Louisiana Academy of Family Practice, also serving on their Advocacy committee.

Amanda Perron, RD, LDN, NSCA-CPT, earned her bachelor's degree in nutrition from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Over the last 20 years, she has worked as a Registered Dietitian counseling medical weight loss patients. Amanda has provided her weight management expertise during health fairs, nutrition seminars, personal training and weight loss support group sessions. She holds a certificate in adult weight management by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and is also a Certified Personal Trainer. (CPT).

Dr. Shay Burns is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Houma, Louisiana offering therapy and assessment services for patients with weight-related concerns and those in preparation for bariatric surgery. She completed her post-doctoral training in Clinical Health Psychology at University Medical Center in New Orleans within the bariatric clinic, providing support and targeted interventions for patients pre- and post-surgery, as well as pre-surgical evaluations.

Dr. Bradley Meek, Director of Our Lady of the Lake's medically supervised weight loss clinic, Lake Weight Solutions, is a native of Baton Rouge. He received his medical degree from LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport, La., and completed an Internal Medicine residency, serving as Chief Resident at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and has been in practice since 1999. Dr. Meek specializes in adult and adolescent primary care and preventive medicine. His special interest is in treatment of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Dr. Brain Saunders is diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) since 2021. He works at Metamor Institute, a multi-specialty clinic in Baton Rouge, that is affiliated with Pennington Biomedical Research Center. He is part of a team that includes Registered Dietitians, a Psychologist, and five Bariatric surgeons. He practice obesity medicine full time, and assist in the management of bariatric surgery patients pre and post-operatively.

Dr. Gilbert is an endocrinologist with over 2 decades of clinical and research experience in obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease. His career has been shaped by a consistent commitment to improving the care of patients with complex metabolic disorders. He currently practices at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge where he serves as medical director of the outpatient Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease Clinic in addition to working as a clinical research physician. "My goal is to help bridge the gap between academic research and community practice offering aggressive and cutting edge care to those living with obesity and other metabolic disorders."

Dr. Tierra Sanders is an Internal Medicine and Pediatric Primary Care physician with an integrated Obesity Medicine practice.

Yvette Perrier Quantz, RDN, LDN is originally from New Orleans, earned her degree in Kinesiology from LSU, and then pursued dietetics, completing an internship at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She started her career in the fitness industry, building sports and lifestyle nutrition programs first in Mandeville and later in Dallas. She moved to Lafayette in 2008 and opened a private practice, Food Therapy. Her individual practice began in performance nutrition, weight management, food sensitivities, and allergies. It has evolved to focus primarily on eating disorders and disordered eating. She holds certifications in sports nutrition and food sensitivities, along with training in the non-diet approach, coaching, and motivational interviewing. For more than ten years, she has ran a supplemental Medicaid program in Louisiana serving members with obesity. That long-term, payer-based work has been both humbling and transformative, and it significantly shaped how I approach nutrition counseling. It led to the development of the CAN Method™, a framework for connecting with clients, aligning recommendations to their life, and providing the education, tools, and resources that nourish a healthier life. She believes people in Louisiana care deeply about their families and about helping others; that's why focusing on the nutrition, food, and lifestyle habits they can do shifts the conversation and empowers action that's feasible enough to create real change. Obesity care is complex and requires a comprehensive treatment team, and she hopes to contribute to that collaboration as a board member. Her passion for creating tools and resources that inspire healthier lives also led her to develop a white-label nutrition education and communication platform, Affy Health. For 16 years, nutrition practices nationwide have used these resources to stay connected, provide education, and inspire change. Her guiding belief is that a healthy life comes from how we feed our minds and bodies, and ultimately, when one feels good on the inside, they can live well, care for, and serve others, contributing to stronger families and communities. Everything she builds comes back to that. It's also why she holds onto the human component of care. Changing how someone eats means changing patterns and long-held thinking about their own body. Technology can play a supportive role, but at the end of the day, people still need people. She is looking forward to being part of this work.

Nanette is a Licensed Professional Counselor whose work sits at the intersection of clinical mental health and obesity care. Licensed across 13 states, she specializes in the psychological and behavioral dimensions of obesity treatment, bariatric surgery, and GLP-1 pharmacotherapy, with a particular focus on body image, food-related cognition, interoception, and the lived experience of medical and surgical weight management. Her perspective is informed by both professional expertise and her own long-term experience as a bariatric patient, allowing her to bring a distinctive clinical and patient-centered lens to obesity treatment and advocacy. She is actively involved in the obesity medicine community through the Obesity Action Coalition, The Obesity Society, IFSO, the International Bariatric Club, and multiple patient advisory committees, and she has participated in advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill to expand access to obesity care. A Louisiana native and graduate of Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans, Nanette also brings somatic and movement-based approaches to her work as a Pilates instructor and somatic practitioner. Through her Substack publication, Weighted Wisdoms, she writes about obesity research, GLP-1 pharmacotherapy, weight bias, body image, and the psychological dimensions of long-term obesity treatment."My goal is to help bridge the gap between academic research and community practice offering aggressive and cutting edge care to those living with obesity and other metabolic disorders."