Prof Dror Dicker is the Chair of the EASO COMs network. Prof Dicker leads a COM based in the Hasharon Hospital, Rabin Medical Center which provides treatment for adult patients with obesity in Israel.
Welcome Dror! Please tell us about the multidisciplinary team working in your COM, and the specific obesity treatments and services your COM offers
Our multidisciplinary team comprises four physicians, two surgeons, one gastroenterologist, six dietitians, two physiotherapists, two social workers, two nurses, one pharmacist, one study coordinator, and one center secretary. As obesity is a complex disease, our COM uses a comprehensive approach to obesity management, and our team provides a range of obesity treatments and services to patients living with obesity. Our patient care philosophy acknowledges that diseases which are chronic, complex, and progressive require holistic, comprehensive treatment. We use an individualised approach to obesity management – we recognise that obesity is complex and tailor our treatment to the needs of each patient. All patients take part in one-on-one specialist medical consultations to help us understand which obesity treatment is most likely to suit their specific needs. All patients who receive treatment in our COM are offered medical nutrition therapy, psychological evaluation, counselling support, behaviour modification training, physiotherapy, pharmacotherapy, and the option of digital follow-up. Patients who may benefit from surgical interventions are supported with this.
Please describe the education and training activities that your COM provides.
Within our center, we actively contribute to the education and training of staff through leading a Master’s course, holding teaching seminars, hosting annual conferences specifically for primary physicians, and participating in an exchange program for physicians so that they can develop their clinical skills. These initiatives aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals but also foster a collaborative environment for continuous learning and improvement.
What are the main goals and plans for your COM during the next 3-5 years?
We have different goals for our COM over the coming years, all of which aim to ultimately improve our approach to obesity treatment and enhance patient care. We aim to widen collaboration with the professional community and increase education and learning opportunities for our COM staff. Another goal is to increase engagement in clinical exchange and mentoring programmes, which will facilitate sharing of expert knowledge to enhance our practices and support patient care. We would also like to increase our obesity-related research activities, by conducting more studies and publishing guidelines in obesity medicine; actively engaging with the research area will also help us embrace new approaches to obesity management to enhance patient care.
What news from work in your COM during the past 12 months can you share?
Over the past year, we have collaborated with Prof. Dr. Gema Frühbeck’s team in Spain to conceptualise a framework for adipose-related diseases. We also actively participated in a study exploring the effects of Semaglutide on Albuminuria and kidney function. We finished the landmark SELECT study, which shows that GLP-1RA-based obesity pharmacotherapy can significantly reduce cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality. Currently, we are participating in studies examining the effect of Trizepatide and also the effects of pharmacotherapy compared with metabolic/bariatric surgery on cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In the last year, we increased collaboration with our community health services, meaning we can more proactively engage individuals with obesity and invite them to our COM for tailored treatment.
References
Paper 1: Perdomo, C. M., Avilés-Olmos, I., Dicker, D., & Frühbeck, G. (2023). Towards an adiposity-related disease framework for the diagnosis and management of obesities. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, 1-13.
Paper 2: Heerspink, H. J., Apperloo, E., Davies, M., Dicker, D., Kandler, K., Rosenstock, J., … & Cherney, D. (2023). Effects of Semaglutide on Albuminuria and Kidney Function in People With Overweight or Obesity With or Without Type 2 Diabetes: Exploratory Analysis From the STEP 1, 2, and 3 Trials. Diabetes Care, 46(4), 801-810.