LAPAROSCOPIC ESOPHAGOMYOTOMY - Key Persons

Dr. Marcinkevicius is a graduate of Vilnius/Lithuania/University Medical School. After completion of his residency program he became a board certified surgeon in 1985. In 1990 Dr. Marcinkevicius completed his thesis and received a PhD degree in medicine; in 1990-1992 he worked as a visiting Research Scholar in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois; 1993-1995 he did a fellowship at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston and in 1996-1997 a fellowship at St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, OR. Dr. Marcinkevicius has authored multiple scientific papers and chapters, and he is certified by the European Board of Surgeons. Dr. Marcinkevicius is currently a Laparoscopic Fellow with the Chicago Institute of Minimally Invasive surgery.

Atul K. Madan, M.D. received a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1996. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Tulane University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana in 2001. He was Dr. Frantzides' Fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery from 2001-2002.

Dr. Minh Luu completed his medical education and residency at Rush University Medical Center (RUMC). After his residency training in general surgery, Dr. Luu obtained his fellowship in minimally invasive surgery under the guidance of Dr. Constantine Frantzides from (2007-2008) at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare (now Northshore University Health System).

Dr. Tomas Manelis obtained his MD from the Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, Lithuania in 1990. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Vilnius University Teaching Hospital, in 1994. Dr. Tomas Manelis is Board Certified in General Surgery in Lithuanian and he is registered with the General Medical Council of United Kingdom. He has special interest in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery including complex Incisional Hernia repairs, Bariatric Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, Biliopancreatic, and Gastroesophageal Surgery. Dr. Manelis was Dr. Frantzides' Fellow in Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship Program at St Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL (July 2016-June 2017)

George D. Ayiomamitis, MD obtained a Medical Doctor degree from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, School of Medicine in July 2000. He is a certified General Surgeon (CCST), after completion of a full residency program in General Surgery at Tzanion General Hospital at Piraeus, Greece on January 2007. He also obtained at the same period a postgraduate Diploma in Emergency & Critical Care Medicine. He has completed a fellowship program (Oct 2007 - Aug 2008) in Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery and Advanced Laparoendoscopic Surgery at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, University Hospital, Manchester,U.K. He was Dr. Frantzides' visiting fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Bariatric Surgery from Sept 2008 - Dec 2008.

George P. Stavropoulos, MD obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Athens University School of Medicine in 1985. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Evagelismos General Hospital in Athens-Greece in 1993, and a fellowship in surgical critical care in 1997. He was Dr. Frantzides' fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery from 2000-2001. Dr. Stavropoulos has completed a Ph.D. thesis and he is certified by the European Board of Surgery. His main interest is Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery and Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery.

Dr. Roberts received his medical degree at Michigan State University and was chief resident St. John Oakland hospital. He is board certified in general surgery. Dr. Roberts was Dr. Frantzides fellow (2008-2009) and he completed his fellowship at the Chicago Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery and at St. Francis hospital at Evanston, IL. He played a key role in the gathering of clinical data for the completion of two important studies. In specific, the effects of Vagotomy on gastric bypass patients and the use of anticoagulants in bariatric patients.

A native of Chicago land, Dr. Glover received her M.D. from Rush-Presbyterian St. Luke's Medical Center. She served her internship and initial residency in General Surgery at Indiana University, and continued her residency in General Surgery at the University of Chicago. She also pursued a fellowship in trauma/critical care at Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Dr. Glover is board certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. Dr. Glover was Dr. Frantzides' laparoscopic fellow for the period of July 2009 to June 2010.

John G. Zografakis, M.D., Assistant Professor of Surgery (NEOUCOM- Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine), board certified in general surgery, completed his fellowship in Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery with Dr. Frantzides at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare in June of 2004. In August of 2004, he returned to Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio (residency in general surgery 1998-2003). He now serves as the Director of Advanced Laparoscopic Surgical Services and the Director of the Bariatric Care Center. He continues to perform a high volume of weight reductive surgery as well as advanced laparoscopic general surgery procedures."

Dr. Laguna is a graduate of Mayo clinic in Rochester, MN. He has completed one year fellowship with Dr. Frantzides (2005-2006). Dr. Laguna has worked closely with Dr. Frantzides in publishing chapters and scientific papers including: Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy, Laparoscopic transverse colectomy. Dr. Laguna and Dr. Frantzides were awarded by the society of Laparoscopic surgeons for their presentation on hiatal hernia repair with mesh in the 2006 society annual meeting.

Mark A. Carlson, M.D. obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland), and then in 1995 completed a residency in General Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Carlson was Dr. Frantzides' first Fellow in Minimally Invasive Surgery in 1995-1996. From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Carlson was a Research Fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Since 1999, Dr. Carlson has been at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he currently is Professor in the Department of Surgery and a Staff Surgeon at the VA Medical Center in Omaha. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery, with a sub-specialty in advanced laparoscopic general surgery. His clinical interests include gastroesophageal reflux disease, abdominal wall hernia, and gastrointestinal malignancy. Together with Dr. Frantzides, Dr. Carlson published in 2009 the first comprehensive DVD-Atlas of Minimally Invasive Surgery & in 2014 he was the co-author with Dr. Frantzides of the Video Atlas of Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery. In addition to his practice of general and minimally invasive surgery, Dr. Carlson runs a federally-funded basic science laboratory which studies wound healing and regeneration. He is leading a research effort to engineer a skin replacement therapy and also a novel hemostatic bandage for life-threatening bleeding. He has over 90 contributions to the medical literature.

Dr. Moore received his medical degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1997. He is a board certified general surgeon who has completed his fellowship (2002-2003) in Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery at Rush University in Chicago under the supervision of Dr. Frantzides.

Scott Welle, DO, completed his fellowship at Saint Francis Hospital during July 2010 though June 2011. During his fellowship, Dr. Welle presented three research projects at the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons and a poster presentation at the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons which won 1st place. He co-authored several chapters and edited several DVDs of operations for Dr. Frantzides' new book, "Video Atlas of Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery," being published by Saunders/Elsevier.

Tallal M. Zeni, MD, a board certified surgeon, obtained a Doctor of Medicine degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He went on to complete his general surgery training at Indiana University in June of 2004. He completed a Minimally Invasive Surgery fellowship with Dr. Frantzides at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare from June 2004 until July 2005. Dr. Zeni has completed research with Dr. Frantzides regarding the use of endoscopy prior to gastric bypass, a review of Dr. Frantzides experience with laparoscopic gastric bypass, laparoscopic spinal fusion, and laparoscopic redo Nissen fundoplication, among other topics.

Job Titles:

• Manager
• Administrative Assistant to Dr. Constantine Frantzides

The CIMIS staff, and Manager Teresa Wojtusiak, are experienced and understanding of patient's needs. They are knowledgeable of the process to be followed for insurance pre-authorization for surgery. They are always available to answer your questions.

Dr. Ruff received his M.D. at Hahnemann University School of Medicine, now a part of Drexel University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He finished his surgical residency at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. He then went into private practice in general surgery in Nashville Tennessee. Dr. Ruff is board certified by the American Board of Surgery. During his Advanced Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery Fellowship at St Francis Hospital, Evanston, IL (July 2011-June 2012), Dr. Ruff co-authored with Dr. Frantzides papers that have been published in surgical journals. In addition he is the author of a chapter and co-author of several chapters in the Video Atlas of Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery edited by Dr. Frantzides.