Australian Institute Of Weight Control South Australia

Our Team

• Professor James Toouli
• Dr. Lilian Kow
• Dr. Berndt Lorenzen
• Associate Professor Campbell Thompson
• Nick Wray
• Support Team

Professor James Toouli MBBS, B.Med.Sci., PhD., FRACS

General & Bariatric Surgeon

James Toouli is a Professor of Surgery at Flinders University of South Australia and a member of the original team who began Bariatric surgery at Flinders. He has been responsible for training surgeons in bariatric and abdominal surgery and continues to train surgeons in bariatric surgery nationally and internationally. Along with Dr Lilian Kow, he introduced the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band to Adelaide and Australia. And together they have performed in excess of 1600 gastric band procedures. He is a Councillor of the Asia Pacific Surgical Group and member of national and international Associations on Bariatric, Digestive and Endoscopic/ Laparoscopic Surgery. He is President of the Asia Pacific Hepato-pancreatobiliary Association and past President of the International Hepatopancreatobiliary Association and the Gastroenterological Society of Australia. He is currently Chairman of the Education Committee of the World Gastroenterology Organisation.

Dr. Lilian Kow, MBBS, PhD., FRACS

General & Bariatric Surgeon

Lilian Kow is senior consultant surgeon at Flinders Medical Centre and Senior Lecturer at The Flinders University of South Australia. Along with Professor Toouli, she introduced the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band to Adelaide and Australia and together they have performed in excess of 1600 gastric banding procedures. She has been involved in training surgeons in bariatric surgery nationally and internationally. Lilian is an Executive Committee Member and President Elect of the Obesity Society of Australia and New Zealand and a member of national and international Associations on Bariatric, Digestive and Endoscopic/Laparoscopic Surgery.

Dr. Berndt Lorenzen, MBBS, DRANZCOG

Bariatric Physician

Dr. Lorenzen is a graduate of Flinders University in Adelaide. He has worked in major public hospitals and rural hospitals and has extensive experience in all branches of medicine. He has worked as a general practitioner and has also been extensively involved in medical education . He has served on the Boards of many organisations including the Federal Council of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. His current roles include Trustee for a research foundation at the Women's and Children's Hospital, and a Board Member of various committees of the South Australian Health Commission. Over some years he has been providing assistance to surgeons performing bariatric surgery. He has developed a considerable interest in caring for all the myriad aspects of medical management of the overweight person and currently provides pre-operative counselling, medical assessment and post operative management of patients at the Circle of Care – Adelaide.

Associate Professor Campbell Thompson, MD(Syd), DPhil(Oxon), FRACP

Specialist Physician

Campbell is head of General Medicine at Flinders Medical Centre and has worked in clinical research since the early 1980's and in the area of insulin resistance and bariatric research since returning from Oxford in 1996. His research expertise includes the use of magnetic resonance (MRI) to monitor liver, brain, heart and muscle metabolism in the diabetic patient and in the athlete. He has trained more than 10 PhD students in this area of research with the assistance of funding from Diabetes Australia and the National Health and Medical Research Council. He is a council member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity (ASSO) actively seeking to increase the expertise of Australasian GP's and physicians in the treatment of the overweight and obese.

Nick Wray, MND, B.App.Sc(EX & Sp.Sc) APD

Dietitian

Nick is a senior dietitian at Flinders Medical Centre, specialising in the area of gastroenterology. Nick is also an experienced private practicing dietitian, who has been educating gastric banding clients regarding their dietary issues for Professor Toouli and Dr Kow since they began the surgery in Adelaide. Nick is an APD (Accredited Practicing Dietitian) with the Dietitians Association of Australia, and has been practicing for over 10 years.

Our Multi-Disciplinary Support Team Includes:

• Christine Kelly: Psychologist
• Tom Hassell: Physiotherapist/exercise physiologist
• Kathy Pash: Exercise consultant
• Jane Collins: Nurse/Research Associate