Michel Gagner, M.D.

Dr. Michel Gagner is a bariatric and weight loss surgeon located in Westmount Quebec. Dr. Gagner has 36 years of experience performing Lap-Band and other weight loss surgery. Currently 20 of our members have Dr. Gagner listed as their Lap Band Surgeon.

Considered one of the world's foremost experts in minimally invasive surgery, originator of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and first to performed laparoscopic duodenal switch in 1999. Dr. Gagner has returned to Montreal, Canada, where he can offer new surgical procedures at much lower costs. He specializes in all forms of weight loss surgery including gastric plication, gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, duodenal switch, complex revision surgeries and new diabetes operations like ileal interposition and duodeno-jejunal bypass. 

Dr. Michel Gagner was born in 1960 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Gagner obtained a College degree in Sciences at the Seminaire de Sherbrooke in 1978 and his M.D. from the Universite de Sherbrooke (Canada) in 1982. He did his surgical training at McGill University in Montreal from 1982-1988. During his residency he completed 2 years of a Ph.D. program on human lipolysis in sepsis at the Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University from 1984-1986. Dr. Gagner completed also fellowships in Hepatico-Pancreatico-Biliary surgery at Hopital Villejuif in Paris, France and Gastro-intestinal surgery at Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts, from 1989-1990. 

Upon completion of his fellowships, he was recruited to the Universite de Montreal, Hotel-Dieu de Montreal, where he was Assistant Professor of Surgery (1990-1995). He then spent several years at the Cleveland Clinic where he co-founded the Minimally Invasive Surgery Center (1995-1998), and started laparoscopic gastric bypass, with the first course on this topic in the USA. He was appointed the Franz Sichel Professor of Surgery and director of the Minimally invasive Surgery Center of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, from 1998 to 2003. He joined Weill Medical College of Cornell University (New York) as Professor of Surgery and Chief of the section of laparoscopic and Bariatric surgery (2003-2007), and was instrumental in one of the first Center of Excellence in Bariatric surgery accredited level 1A by the American College of Surgeons. He was until recently, chair of dept. of Surgery at the Mount Sinai Medical Center (Miami) and Professor of Surgery at Florida International University. 

Dr. Gagner is known for his contributions in the field of Minimally Invasive Surgery, in particular the first description of laparoscopic adrenalectomy for Cushing syndrome and pheochromocytoma (1992), first description of laparoscopic pancreatectomy (distal and proximal) (1992-93), first description of endoscopic neck surgery with parathyroidectomy in 1995, first transgastric cholecystectomy in 1997 (NOTES), first description of laparoscopic duodenal switch for obesity in 1999 and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in 2000. More recently, he was co-surgeon for the first World transatlantic robotic cholecystectomy, between New York City and Strasbourg (France), the only surgical article published in Nature in 2001. 

He has over 225 published journal articles, 40 book chapters and 5 books on Minimally Invasive Surgery (including bariatric surgery). He has been visiting professor and operated in over 60 institutions in 48 countries. He has held prominent positions in more than 35 societies and organizations. He has been on the editorial boards of 12 surgical journals. 

Dr. Gagner also has received a number of honorary memberships and awards throughout his career. His most recent contributions focus on innovative upper digestive tract surgery like bariatric, anti-diabetic and endoluminal gastric procedures. 

Dr. Gagner is also a member of the following: 

IFSO 
SSAT 
Royal College of Surgeons 
Americal College of Surgeons 
Association Francaise de Chirurgie 
Brazilian College of Surgeons 
American Board of Surgery 
New York Academy of Sciences 
Canadian Obesity Network