Founding Group

Professor Alex Miras

Alex Miras is a Professor of Endocrinology at Ulster University. His clinical and research work focuses solely on obesity and type 2 diabetes. He has contributed to clinical management policy and research in the field of obesity over the last 14 years.

The specialist interests of his research group are the mechanisms of action of interventions for obesity, focusing on pharmacotherapy, medical devices, and obesity surgery.

Alex is a member of the NICE obesity management guidelines committee, trustee of the Association for the Study of Obesity and chair of the research subcommittee of the NBSR. He is the associate editor for the journals Obesity and SOARD.

Professor John Wilding

Professor John Wilding leads clinical research into obesity, diabetes and endocrinology at the University of Liverpool, where he has worked since 1996 after training in Southampton and London. His clinical interests focus on caring for people with diabetes and obesity, and he leads specialist services for obesity at Aintree University Hospital, which is designated a Centre for Obesity Management by the European Association for the Study of Obesity.

John’s research team focusses on developing and evaluating treatments for obesity and type 2 diabetes. He has published over 350 papers, chapters and review articles, including clinical trials in diabetes and obesity and studies of adipocyte biology and metabolism.

He has advised NICE and NHS England on various aspects of obesity care. He is past President of the World Obesity Federation.

Professor Kalpana Devalia

Mrs Kalpana Devalia is a leading London-based consultant bariatric surgeon with more than 10 years of experience. Mrs Devalia practises at the Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Portland Place Outpatient Centre, both in central London. She has been a consultant surgeon at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust since 2011.

Some of her areas of expertise include weight management, bariatric (weight loss) surgery, treatment for gallstones, acid reflux and hernia procedures.

Mrs Devalia has a special clinical interest in surgery for severe obesity, gastrointestinal surgery and advanced laparoscopic surgery. She is one of the UK’s most trusted bariatric surgeons, having performed over 1000 laparoscopic procedures over the course of her career, such as laparoscopic gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy.

Mrs Devalia has received extensive training across the UK, India and Belgium. She graduated with an MBBS from the University of Mumbai in 1989 before going on to qualify with an FRCS (Edin) at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and an FRCS (Glas) at the Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow, both in 2000. Mrs Devalia then received her FRCS (Gen Surg) in 2011.

When Mrs Devalia is not treating patients, she carries out research into a wide range of bariatric treatments and has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr Sue Kenneally

Dr Isabel Huang-Doran