Alex Brecher and Our Team
Alex Brecher
Founder / CEO
Alex Brecher is the director of BariatricPal.com. He founded the original LapBandTalk.com and the other boards within WLSBoards.com before guiding their transition to BariatricPal.com. He is the strategic leader and day-to-day decision maker in business, communications and development opportunities. Alex actively travels around the nation and internationally to conferences and workshops to meet new people and get new ideas for continuing to connect with and serve the weight loss surgery community.
Alex supports many professional organizations for weight loss surgery, including the American Society for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO ) and the Association for the Study of Obesity. Alex's expertise in web design, forum hosting, technology and management stems from years of experience in the technology industry. He has founded multiple technology companies and currently sits on the boards of numerous private and public sector corporations. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park.
Alex's tireless dedication to the weight loss surgery community comes from his own personal history. He struggled with his weight his entire life before finding out about the laparoscopic adjustable band (lap-band) from a friend. The lap-band and his new commitment allowed him to lose—and keep off—more than 100 pounds. Today, he leads an active, healthy lifestyle, but hasn't forgotten what it was like to fight obesity every day for years. That's why he remains devoted to BaratricPal.com.
Alex lives in New York with his family and loves to run, bike and cook.
The rest of the crew behind BariatricPal:
Ken Sandell
Vice President of Operations
Ken keeps things running smoothly at BariatricPal. He's an expert in business management, web programming and systems administration, and he's a self-professed geek. He has years of experience working in business and technology and takes pride in his ability to fix bugs, troubleshoot technical problems and develop innovative business and technical solutions.
In his free time, Ken loves to spend time with his wife. His hobbies include learning new computer skills, cooking, entertaining and cheering for his favorite football teams on Sundays.
Natalie Stein
Vice President of Health and Nutrition
Natalie is in charge of the regular newsletters that we send to keep our members informed about the latest happenings on the boards. She provides well-researched informational content for BariatricPal.com. She also works with Alex on special projects, such as the BariatricPal books.
Natalie's education includes a Master's of Public Health (MPH) and a Master's of Science (MS) in Nutrition. She loves to run, bike, dance, study Spanish, listen to music and help others with nutrition and health to match their own lifestyles and goals.
Katie Allen
Customer Service Manager
Katie ensures that the needs of BariatricPal's customers are being satisfied. Her aim is to provide excellent customer service and to promote this idea throughout the team she manages.
Katie has years of experience in the health food industry as well as experience in public health, communications and product development. She is also a certified Zumba instructor and can be found dancing at her desk when she's not assisting our members and customers.
Hana Rothschild
Web Design & Development
Hana Rothschild oversees the team responsible for developing and maintaining BariatricPal.com core web services. Prior to joining BariatricPal, she was the Lead Web Developer at Stanford University and the Web Services Coordinator at California State University.
Hana has over ten years of experience designing and implementing database-driven web applications. She brings business acumen and a real-world sensibility around priorities to BariatricPal.com projects. A broad background of systems deployments and strong ability with our application development tools enable Hana to understand whole projects quickly and accurately. She has excellent communications and interpersonal skills which enable her to communicate design and development issues to everyone from the most seasoned programmer to the least technical user.
When Hana is not striving to write perfect code, she enjoys hiking, gardening and cooking.
Vlad Waletzko
Mobile App Design & Development
Vlad Waletzko oversees the team responsible for developing and maintaining BariatricPal mobile applications and services. He has over 15 years of experience in software, with roles involving implementation, design, support, and management. He has spent the past several years in mobile applications, working across text messaging platforms, mobile web development, mobile advertising, and managing mobile applications.
Vlad has a passion for technology and provides vision and strategy to the company, partners and members. Prior to joining BariatricPal, he received his Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems at Northeastern University.