WELCOME MESSAGE

---

Dear Colleagues,

On behalf of the Steering Committee of the Metabolic Surgery Study Group (MSSG), it is a great pleasure and honor to invite you to attend the 3rd Annual Congress of the Group, which will be held in Athens on the 20^th and 21^st of October 2023.

Following the footprints of the great success of the two previous meetings, Rome in 2021 and Paris in 2022, the present Congress will address the question of how we can rejuvenate metabolic surgery. Thus, topics to be discussed will be barriers to the implementation of metabolic surgery, reasons for its poor penetrance despite its phenomenal beneficial effects on weight, metabolic indices and mortality, as well as its integration with other therapeutic modalities, especially obesity pharmacotherapy.

The faculty of speakers includes renowned researchers from around the world, whose work has been pivotal in revealing the complex neurohormonal mechanics behind metabolic surgery and the regulation of food intake.

We aim to make the sessions as interactive as possible, allocating ample time for fruitful discussion between the presenters and the audience. In addition, there will be sessions in which researchers, especially younger colleagues, will have the opportunity to orally present cutting-edge results of their research. Thus, we encourage all interested parties to submit their findings for presentation.

Please take the time to go through the preliminary programme of the meeting, which will be enriched in detail in the near future.

We look forward to welcoming you in beautiful Athens.

With Best Regards,

Alexander Kokkinos
Professor in Internal Medicine
First Department of Propaedeutic Internal Medicine
Medical School
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens