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Jessica K. Smith, MD, MPH, FACS, FASMBS

Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery - Gastrointestinal Surgery

Current Positions

  • Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery - Gastrointestinal Surgery, University of Iowa
  • Associate Fellowship Director, Bariatric Fellowship, University of Iowa
  • Medical Director, Bariatric Surgery Program, University of Iowa
  • Attending Surgeon, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa
  • Chief, General Surgery, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, Iowa

Education

  • BA in Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California
  • Post-Baccalaureate Program, Pre-Med, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
  • MD, University of California, Davis, California
  • Resident in General Surgery, University of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Fellow in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
  • MPH in Clinical Effectiveness, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts

Research Interests

  • Nutrition, endocrinology and metabolism
  • Medical and Surgical treatment of obesity and related disease
  • Outcomes in Robotic Surgery
  • Surgical simulation and performance evaluation

Licenses & Certifications

  • Focus Practice Designation in Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, American Board of Surgery
  • Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine
  • Iowa Medical License, Iowa Board of Medicine, Iowa
  • Board Certified, General Surgery, American Board of Surgery
  • Fellow, American College of Surgeons
  • Fellow, American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
  • Certified, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, American Heart Association
  • Certified, Basic Life Support, American Heart Association

Selected Publications

  • Submitted for Publication: Fermin Fontan, Dakota Thompson, Rory Carroll, Erin Worden, Ryan Lehmann, Jessica Smith, Peter Nau 3-year outcomes in bariatric surgery patients after successful weight loss during the preoperative hypocaloric diet phase. Journal of Clinical Medicine. Submitted 2/5/2025
  • Kamalumpundi V, Smith J.K., Robinson KM, Saad Eddin A, Alatoum A, Kasasbeh G, Correia MLG, Vaughan Sarrazin M. (2024). Patient, facility, and environmental factors associated with obesity treatment in US Veterans. Obes Sci Pract. 2024 Oct 24;10(5):e70014. doi: 10.1002/osp4.70014. PMID: 39450266; PMCID: PMC11500758.
  • Talledo O, Carroll R, Worden E, Greenwood AM, Alexander H, Karlsdottir B, Lehmann R, Peoples R, Smith J, Thompson D, Zhang KA, Nau P. The impact of COVID-19 on medium term weight loss and comorbidities in patients undergoing bariatric surgery and its association with psychological wellbeing. Surg Endosc. 2023 Feb;37(2):1537-1542. doi: 10.1007/s00464-022-09377-6. Epub 2022 Jun 22. PMID: 35731301; PMCID: PMC9215154.
  • Hart, A., Sun, Y., Titcomb, T. J., Liu, B., Smith, J. K., Correia MLG, Snetselaar, L. G., Zhu, Z. & Bao, W. (2022). Association between preoperative serum albumin levels with risk of death and postoperative complications after bariatric surgery: a retrospective cohort study. Surgery for obesity and related diseases : official journal of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery 18 (7) 928-934. DOI: 10.1016/j.soard.2022.04.006. PMID: 35660268.
  • Kang, C., Kern, D. M., My-Ta, C., Maurer, J., Heebink, J., Gerber, E. E., Grzesik, W. J., Elliot-Hudson, M., Zhang, Y., Key, P., Kulkarni, C. A., Beals, J. W., Smith, G. I., Samuel, I., Smith, J. K., Nau, P., Imai, Y., Sheldon, R. D., Taylor, E. B., Lerner, D. J., Norris, A. W., Klein, S., Brohawn, S. G., Kerns, R., Sah, R., Gunasekar, S. K., Xie, L., Kumar, A., Hong, J. & Chheda, P. R. (2022). Small molecule SWELL1 complex induction improves glycemic control and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in murine Type 2 diabetes. Nature communications 13 (1) 784. PMID: 35145074. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28435-0.
  • Sun, Y., Liu, B., Smith, J. K., Correia MLG, Jones, D. L., Zhu, Z., Taiwo, A., Morselli, L. L., Robinson, K., Hart, A. A., Snetselaar, L. G. & Bao, W. (2020). Association of Preoperative Body Weight and Weight Loss With Risk of Death After Bariatric Surgery. JAMA network open 3 (5) e204803. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.4803. PMID: 32407504. PMCID: PMC7225906.
  • Hart, A., Goffredo, P., Carroll, R., Lehmann, R., Nau, P., Smith, J., Ahad, S., Bao, W. & Hassan, I. (2020). Optimizing Bariatric Surgery outcomes: the impact of preoperative elevated hemoglobin A1c levels on composite perioperative outcome measures. Surgical endoscopy. DOI: 10.1007/s00464-020-07887-9. PMID: 32789589.
  • Fontan, F. M., Carroll, R. S., Thompson, D., Lehmann, R. K., Smith, J. K. & Nau, P. N. (2020). Current management of gastroesophageal reflux disease in the obese population - a review of the literature. Mini-invasive Surg (4) 29. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2574-1225.2020.09.
  • Carroll, R., Fontan, F., Lehmann, R. K., Smith, J. K. & Nau, P. N. (2020). Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass for the management of hiatal hernia and failed fundoplication in patients with obesity. Annals of Laparoscopic and Endoscopic Surgery. doi: 10.21037/ales-20-75
  • Kavanagh, R., Smith, J., Avgenackis, E., Jones, D. & Nau, P. (2020). A Comparison of the Effects of Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy on Body Mass Composition as Measured by Air Displacement Plethysmography. OBESITY SURGERY 30 (2) 451-455. DOI: 10.1007/s11695-019-04178-8.