Global collaborative research in metabolic and bariatric surgery (GCRMBS): current status and directions for the future

Obesity has been recognized as a chronic disorder by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and was first reported in the Paleolithic age. In the recent years there has not been an international collaborative that facilitates professional cooperation on a worldwide level to increase the output of high-level evidence in the fields of obesity treatment and metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). In other surgical and medical fields, international collaborative research networks have shown to increase the quality and amount of treatment-changing evidence. In general, Global Collaborative Research in MBS (GCRMBS) should have the following goals: (1) clinical specialty-based research in obesity and MBS, (2) designing research protocols and studies to generate long-term data in obesity and MBS, (3) understanding the uncommon/rare complications and events associated with obesity and MBS, (4) increasing the number of participants in research and (5) investigating ethical and racial disparities in bariatric research. This review gives an overview of the current status and the future of international collaborative research in MBS.