OUR TEAM
Dr. Carlin is a Professor of Surgery at Wayne State University and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at Michigan State University COM. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Wayne State University and also completed his General Surgery residency and attended medical school at Wayne State University where he was inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and graduated with High Distinction. During residency Dr. Carlin completed a NIH research fellowship in Surgery and Biochemistry. He spent five years at the Detroit Medical Center before joining Henry Ford Health in 2003 and was appointed Division Head of General Surgery in 2011. Dr. Carlin established the bariatric surgery program at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in 2016 and is their Medical Director of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is also the Associate General Surgery Program Director at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital. Dr. Carlin has been Executive Committee Chair of the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC) since 2014 and now serves as the Director of MBSC.
Arthur M. Carlin, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Director, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Professor of Surgery, Wayne State University
Division Head of General Surgery, Henry Ford Health
Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Director, Henry Ford Macomb Hospital
Dr. Ghaferi is the President of Physician Enterprise and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs for Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. He served as the Director of the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC) since 2015, and now serves as a Physician Consultant for MBSC. He received his bachelor’s degree from UCLA, his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and completed his surgical training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Ghaferi also completed advanced training in health services research and obtained a master’s degree in Health and Healthcare Research from the University of Michigan. He also completed his Executive MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Dr. Ghaferi's research focuses on understanding the relationship of organizational systems and design to quality and efficiency, with the goal of designing interventions to improve care locally, regionally, and nationally.
Amir A. Ghaferi, MD, MSc, MBA, FACS, FASMBS
Physician Consultant, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Professor of Surgery
President, Physician Enterprise
Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Medical College of Wisconsin
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Rachel is a Senior Project Manager for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and her Master of Science degree in Nursing Business and Health Systems from the University of Michigan. Since completing her education, Rachel has worked on a post-surgical floor, which includes gastrointestinal and transplant patients, at the University of Michigan hospital. As the Senior Project Manager for MBSC, she is currently involved in measuring and improving the quality of care for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. Her responsibilities include ensuring the accuracy of submitted data, performing site audits, providing collaboration between sites, and assisting the Lead Senior Project Manager.
Rachel Ross, RN, MS
Senior Project Manager, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
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Sarah is a statistician for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collective. She earned both her Bachelor of Science in cellular and molecular biology and Master of Public Health in epidemiology with a certificate in public health genetics from the University of Michigan. Before joining MBSC, Sarah worked as a clinical research coordinator at Michigan Medicine on a variety of medical device studies including wearable and surgical devices. At MBSC, Sarah analyzes data and generates reports to support the collaborative’ s initiatives and guide understanding of the data for the betterment of surgical and patient outcomes.
Sarah Petersen, MPH
Statistician, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Liz is an Administrative Assistant with MBSC. Prior to joining the MBSC team in 2018, Liz worked in Customer Service with multiple different leadership roles. Liz’s role with MBSC includes managing the clinical registry and working with our sites to ensure the data is accurate.
Liz is a Dexter native and has three grown boys and three lovely grandchildren. We are lucky to have Liz on our team for the past several years.
Liz Hodges
Administrative Assistant, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Dr. Finks is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Michigan. Dr. Finks attended college at Harvard University and medical school at the University of California, Irvine. He completed a General Surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati and went on to complete a 2-year research and clinical fellowship in Minimally Invasive Surgery at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Finks’ clinical interests are in minimally invasive general and bariatric surgery and he served as the director of the Adult Bariatric Surgery Program at the University of Michigan from 2011 until 2014. His research focus is on improving surgical outcomes in bariatric surgery through collaborative quality improvement. Dr. Finks has served on the Executive and Publication Committees of the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC) since 2007 and now serves as the co-director of the MBSC.
Jonathan F. Finks, MD
Associate Director, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Clinical Professor of Surgery, Michigan Medicine
Dr. Varban is a Minimally Invasive and Bariatric surgeon at Henry Ford and serves as Associate Director of the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC). After graduating with a degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Varban completed his medical school and general surgery residency training at Wake Forest University. Afterwards, he completed a fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Varban has been an active member of the MBSC since 2011 and his clinical interests include outcomes of bariatric surgery, access to care and quality improvement.
Oliver A. Varban, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Associate Director, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Amanda is the Lead Senior Project Manager for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and a Master of Science degree in Community and Public Health Nursing from the University of Michigan. Since completing her education, she has worked on a post-surgical floor, which included urology, gastrointestinal and transplant patients, at University of Michigan hospital. As the Lead Senior Project Manager for MBSC, Amanda is currently involved in measuring and improving the quality of care for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative, which is a statewide registry. Her responsibilities include reviewing the accuracy of submitted data, performing site audits, and providing collaboration between the coordinating center and participating sites.
Amanda Stricklen, RN, MS
Lead Senior Project Manager, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Erin is a Clinical Information Analyst for the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Management from Ferris State University and is also a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA). Since completing her education, Erin has worked as a Quality Improvement Specialist with McLaren Port Huron where she was the lead for both the MBSC and MARCQI registries. As the Clinical Information Analyst for MBSC, Erin is currently involved in leading the QI activities of the collaborative including onboarding new sites, designing and ordering materials, and synthesizing outcomes data. Additionally, her responsibilities include helping to manage the MBSC database and other technologies including the Weigh the Odds and My Weight Loss Journey apps, and assisting the Project Managers.
Erin Charbeneau, RHIA, BS
Clinical Information Analyst, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
Gale is an Administrative Assistant with the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative. She joined the MBSC team in 2009 and supports the day-to-day activities of the collaborative. Her main focus is patient follow-up and supporting the Project Managers. With her ability to multitask, prioritize and learn new tasks, Gale has been a great asset to the MBSC family.
Gale O’Reilly
Follow-Up Coordinator, Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative
