Mathias Fobi, born in Cameroon, West Africa, is a naturalized US citizen who received his Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan and his medical degree from University of Cincinnati. Dr. Fobi completed a General Surgical Residency at the King Drew Medical Center in Los Angeles where he later served as the Chief of the General Surgery Division. He is a Board Certified General Surgeon.

In 1981, he opened the Center for Surgical Treatment of Obesity in Los Angeles with a multiple disciplinary approach where more than 12,000 patients were treated. Dr. Fobi is a senior staff surgeon (retired) at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He served as the Medical Director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach California where he developed an ASMBS accredited Center of Excellence. He also served as the Medical Director of Tri-City Regional Medical Center Bariatric Program in Hawaiian Gardens, CA also an ASMBS accredited Center of Excellence

Dr. Fobi was one of the founding members of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS) in 1983. He has served as the President of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Foundation (ASMBS Foundation) the President of the California Chapter of the ASMBS (CCASMBS) the President of the International Federation for Surgery of Obesity (IFSO) and was the Chairman of the IFSO Board of Trustee 2013-2015. Dr. Fobi is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, the International College of Surgeons and the American College of Nutrition. He is a member of many medical associations, including Los Angeles County Medical Association, Charles Drew Los Angeles Medical Society, the California Medical association, the American College of Nutrition, Los Angeles Surgical Society, Southwestern Surgical Association, National Medical Association, American College of Surgeons, the US Section of the International College of Surgeons and the American Medical Association. He is an honorary member of many International Bariatric Surgery Societies.

Dr. Fobi lectures worldwide, is on several editorial boards, has numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and has written chapters in books on obesity and Bariatric surgery. Dr. Fobi’s modification of the gastric bypass surgery, the banded gastric bypass, called “The Fobi Pouch”, is one of his major contributions to the field of Bariatric Surgery

He is the founding President of Bariatec Corporation, a medical device company that produces the GaBP Autolock SystemTM that is used in bariatric operations to enhance the restriction mechanism of the operations.

Dr. Fobi’s community involvement dates back to 1967 with his involvement in the Head Start program in Ann Arbor Michigan working with kids. He was President of the sickle cell awareness group in Cincinnati from 1972-74. In the last forty one years in Los Angeles Dr. Fobi has been a very active member in the greater los Angeles community through programs with the Los Angeles Medical association, The Charles Drew medical Society, the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, the 100 Black Men, the NAACP, the African community, the Cameroon Community, the Nkwen Community, the Bafut Community and various Churches. Dr. Fobi and his wife, through a foundation have been involved in work in Cameroon and particularly his village Nkwen. They sponsored more than 150 students in Cameroon and in America. Dr. Fobi was a big contributor to the birth of multiparty politics in Cameroon. Dr. Fobi’s work has been recognized with coverage in the local, national and international media. He was one of the first African-American profiled on “African Voices” on CNN in 2011. He was featured in Ebony magazine as “Surgeon to the Stars”. Dr. Fobi has received numerous awards including lifetime achievement awards from the Beacon of Hope Foundation, the World Bank, American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the International Federation for Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic disorders.

Dr. Fobi currently resides in Stone Mountain with his wife, Helen Jean Newton Fobi. They have four daughters—a medical doctor, two lawyers and a business executive. They have two grandchildren.