Shanu N. Kothari, MD, FACS, FASMBS, currently serves as the Jean and H. Harlan Stone Chair of Surgery and is a practicing minimally invasive bariatric surgeon at Prisma Health in Greenville, South Carolina. Prior to joining Prisma Health, Dr. Kothari had a distinguished tenure at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he established the institution’s bariatric surgery program and founded its Minimally Invasive Bariatric Surgery and Advanced Gastrointestinal Fellowship.
Dr. Kothari earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology, graduating magna cum laude from Anderson University in Indiana, and subsequently obtained his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He completed his general surgery residency at the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Foundation in Wisconsin, followed by a fellowship in advanced laparoscopic surgery at the Medical College of Virginia.
He currently holds an academic appointment as Professor of Surgery at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. Dr. Kothari is a past president of several prominent surgical organizations, including the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), the Southwestern Surgical Congress, and the Fellowship Council.
Dr. Kothari’s dedication to surgical excellence and academic scholarship is demonstrated through more than 200 national presentations and invited lectures, as well as over 160 peer-reviewed publications, which have collectively garnered more than 7,500 citations.
His contributions to the field have been widely recognized with numerous honors, including the Treo Foundation Master Educator Award and the University of Illinois College of Medicine Distinguished Alumni Award. He has also been recognized among Stanford University’s Top 2% of most-cited researchers in his field.
Dr. Kothari commented on the Digest: "Over the past 25 years, I have had the privilege of contributing to the bariatric literature as an author, researcher, and clinician. I am now excited to help bring the most impactful and practice-changing articles to the MBS Digest community by overseeing their selection and dissemination."