BIOGRAPHY
Biography: George A. Fielding, MBBS FRACS FRCS (Eng) FRCS (Glas Hon)
George A. Fielding
1
Published online: 4 June 2018
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The Author(s) 2018
Dr. George Fielding is a general and bariatric surgeon, and the
Ira and Nikki Harris Professor of Surgery at NYU Langone
Medical Center in New York.
Beginning in 1980, while still in his surgical residency at
the Royal Brisbane Hospital in Australia, Professor Fielding
developed interests in both hepatobiliary and pancreatic sur-
gery. From 1987 to 1989, he performed fellowship training in
Glasgow, Gloucester, and Bern. He then returned to Brisbane
in 1990 as an attending surgeon.
Professor Fielding was involved in the early days of the
development of laparoscopic surgery. He became a noted ex-
pert in this young field and went on to teach laparoscopic
techniques to surgeons around the world. Professor Fielding
has also been very academically productive. He has published
more than 150 journal articles, abstracts, and book chapters.
He also has spoken at countless international conferences.
In the mid-1990s, Professor Fielding became increasingly
interested in bariatric surgery, and he quickly became a world
expert on the Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Band Lap
Band. Professor Fielding was responsible for training thou-
sands of surgeons (including the Editor-In-Chief of this jour-
nal) on the proper operative technique for placing the band,
and how to properly manage these patients afterwards.
In addition to general bariatric surgery, Professor Fielding
has a special interest in pediatric bariatric surgery and
revisional bariatric surgery, as well as hiatal hernia surgery
and paraesophageal hernia surgery. Over the course of his
lengthy, distinguished career, Professor Fielding has performed
more than 10,000 bariatric surgeries. The main goal of his life’s
work has been caring for people with severe obesity and
performing bariatric surgery with skill and compassion.
In 1999, after years of struggling with weight-related prob-
lems, Professor Fielding had bariatric surgery himself. This
experience gave him a uniquely personal perspective of our
field and what trials and challenges patients experience when
they decide to undergo surgery. Professor Fielding has contin-
uedtodowellwithhisLapBand,nowmorethan18yearslater.
In 2006, Professor Fielding had a major life change. He
moved from his long-time home in Australia to live and work
in New York City. This move enabled him to continue enhanc-
ing his academic career and to work alongside his soul mate,
Dr. Christine Ren.
George Fielding has four children with his first wife Jennifer
Duncombe, a doctor in Brisbane, and three grandchildren. He is
now married to Christine, with whom he works at NYU.
Christine is the division chief, and his boss, but he takes it all
in stride. His passions, apart from his family, include playing
guitar and piano, drinking Burgundy and bourbon with friends,
fly fishing, and duck hunting. He also loves spending time in the
great outdoors of Montana where he and Christine own a home.
Open Access
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* George A. Fielding
gfielding@me.com
1
Department of Surgery, NYU, 530 First Ave., Suite 10S, New
York, NY 10016, USA
Obesity Surgery (2018) 28:1811
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-018-3315-8
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