Professional background

Dr Andrea Pucci is a consultant obesity physician based at University College London Hospital (UCLH) Bariatric Centre for Weight Management and Bariatric Surgery, where he manages people with severe and complex obesity.

He undertook his primary degree in medicine and surgery at the University of Pisa, Italy and graduated in 2003. He subsequently entered higher specialty training in endocrinology at the department of endocrinology, University of Pisa and obtained his specialist qualification in endocrinology in 2008. In 2011, Andrea moved to London and joined the Centre for Obesity Research at University College London (UCL) as a clinical research fellow and subsequently obtained his PhD in 2011.

Since 2011, Andrea has have worked both in the clinical and research setting at UCLH/UCL assessing and managing patients with severe obesity in particular patient before and after bariatric surgery. His research is focused on identifying pre-operative predictors of bariatric surgery health outcomes and he has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed publications in international journals and textbook chapters.

Research interests

  • Obesity
  • Bariatric surgery
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Thyroid

Languages spoken

Italian

Publications

1) Di Bello V, Santini F, Di Cori A, Pucci A, Palagi C, Delle Donne MG, Giannetti M, Talini E, Nardi C, Pedrizzetti G, Fierabracci P, Vitti P, Pinchera A, Balbarini A. Relationship between preclinical abnormalities of global and regional left ventricular function and insulin resistance in severe obesity: a Color Doppler Imaging Study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Jun;30(6):948-56.

2) Di Bello V, Santini F, Di Cori A, Pucci A, Palagi C, Delle Donne MG, Fierabracci P, Marsili A, Talini E, Giannetti M, Biadi O, Balbarini A, Mariani M, Pinchera A. Obesity cardiomyopathy: is it a reality? An ultrasonic tissue characterization study. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2006 Aug;19(8):1063-71.

3) Santini F, Giannetti M, Mazzeo S, Fierabracci P, Scartabelli G, Marsili A, Valeriano R, Pucci A, Anselmino M, Zampa V, Vitti P, Pinchera A Ultrasonographic evaluation of liver volume and the metabolic syndrome in obese women. J Endocrinol Invest. 2007 Feb;30(2):104-10.

4) Di Bello V, Santini F, Di Cori A, Pucci A, Talini E, Palagi C, Delle Donne MG, Marsili A, Fierabracci P, Valeriano R, Scartabelli G, Giannetti M, Anselmino M, Pinchera A, Mariani M. Effects of bariatric surgery on early myocardial alterations in adult severely obese subjects. Cardiology. 2008;109(4):241-8. Epub 2007 Sep 17.

5) Pucci A, Pucci E, Santini F, Altea MA, Faviana P, Basolo F, Pinchera A, Iacconi P, Vitti P. A ganglioneuroma with features of a thyroid nodule: intense pain on fine needle biopsy as a diagnostic clue. Thyroid. 2009 Feb;19(2):201-4. doi: 10.1089/thy.2008.0190.

6) Donatini G, Iacconi P, De Bartolomeis C, Iacconi C, Fattori S, Pucci A, Puccini M, Miccoli P. Neck lesions mimicking thyroid pathology. Langenbecks Arch Surg. 2009 May;394(3):435-40. doi: 10.1007/s00423-008-0410-7. Epub 2008 Aug 22

7) Fierabracci P, Pinchera A, Martinelli S, Scartabelli G, Salvetti G, Giannetti M, Pucci A, Galli G, Ricco I, Querci G, Rago T, Di Salvo C, Anselmino M, Vitti P, Santini F. Prevalence of endocrine diseases in morbidly obese patients scheduled for bariatric surgery: beyond diabetes. Obes Surg. 2011 Jan;21(1):54-60. doi: 10.1007/s11695-010-0297-6.

8) Salvetti G, Pucci A, Fierabracci P, Ceccarini G, Palagi C, Delle Donne MG, Di Bello V, Piaggi P, Vitti P, Salvetti A, Pinchera A, Santini F. Prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and determinants of left ventricular mass in obese women. High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev. 2012 Mar 1;19(1):33-9. doi: 10.2165/11593700-000000000-00000.

9) Latrofa F, Ricci D, Montanelli L, Altea MA, Pucci A, Pinchera A, Vitti P. Thyroglobulin autoantibodies of patients with subacute thyroiditis are restricted to a major B cell epitope. J Endocrinol Invest. 2012 Sep;35(8):712-4.

10) Mägi R, Manning S, Yousseif A, Pucci A, Santini F, Karra E, Querci G, Pelosini C, McCarthy MI, Lindgren CM, Batterham RL. Contribution of 32 GWAS-identified common variants to severe obesity in European adults referred for bariatric surgery. PLoS One. 2013 Aug 7;8(8):e70735. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070735.

11) Manning SB, Pucci A, Batterham RL, Finer N. Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults presenting as diabetes "recurrence" after bariatric surgery: a case report. Diabetes Care. 2013 Aug;36(8):e120. doi: 10.2337/dc13-0810.

12) Manning S, Pucci A, Finer N. Pharmacotherapy for obesity: novel agents and paradigms. Ther Adv Chronic Dis. 2014 May;5(3):135-48. doi: 10.1177/2040622314522848.

13) Pucci A, Manning S, Batterham R. Obesity: causes, consequences and patient-centred therapeutic approaches. HealthManagement 2014, 14 (3) pp. 21-24.

14) Sean Manning, Nicholas C Carter, Andrea Pucci, Alexander Jones, Mohamed Elkalaawy, Wui-hang Cheung, Borzoueh Mohammadi, Nicholas Finer, Alberic G Fiennes, Majid Hashemi, Andrew D Jenkinson, Marco Adamo, Rachel L Batterham. Age- and sex-specific effects on weight loss outcomes in a comparison of sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Obesity 2014 Aug 11;1:12. doi: 10.1186/2052-9538-1-12. eCollection 2014.

15) Manning S, Pucci A, Batterham RL. GLP-1: a mediator of the beneficial metabolic effects of bariatric surgery? Physiology (Bethesda). 2015 Jan;30(1):50-62. doi: 10.1152/physiol.00027.2014.

16) Pucci A, Finer N. New medications for treatment of obesity: metabolic and cardiovascular effects. Can J Cardiol. 2015 Feb;31(2):142-52. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2014.11.010. Epub 2014 Nov 14.

17) Manning S, Pucci A, Batterham RL. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: effects on feeding behavior and underlying mechanisms. J Clin Invest. 2015 Mar 2;125(3):939-48. doi: 10.1172/JCI76305. Epub 2015 Mar 2.

18) Manning S, Pucci A, Carter NC, Elkalaawy M, Querci G, Magno S, Tamberi A, Finer N, Fiennes AG, Hashemi M, Jenkinson AD, Anselmino M, Santini F, Adamo M, Batterham RL.Early postoperative weight loss predicts maximal weight loss after sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Surg Endosc. 2015 Jun;29(6):1484-91. doi: 10.1007/s00464-014-3829-7. Epub 2014 Sep 20.

19) Pucci A, Cheung WH, Jones J, Manning S, Kingett H, Adamo M, Elkalaawy M, Jenkinson A, Finer N, Doyle J, Hashemi M and Batterham RL. A case of severe anorexia, excessive weight loss and high peptide YY levels after sleeve gastrectomy. Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Case Reports 2015;2015:150020. doi: 10.1530/EDM-15-0020. Epub 2015 Jun 1.

20) Jassil FC, Manning S, Lewis N, Steinmo S, Kingett H, Lough F, Pucci A, Cheung WH, Finer N, Walker J, Doyle J, Batterham RL. Feasibility and Impact of a Combined Supervised Exercise and Nutritional-Behavioral Intervention following Bariatric Surgery: A Pilot Study. J Obes. 2015 ;2015:693829. doi: 10.1155/2015/693829. Epub 2015 Jun 23.

21) Steven S, Hollingsworth KG, Small PK, Woodcock SA, Pucci A, Aribisala B, Al-Mrabeh A, Daly AK, Batterham RL, Taylor R. Weight Loss Decreases Excess Pancreatic Triacylglycerol Specifically in Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2016 Jan;39(1):158-65. doi: 10.2337/dc15-0750. Epub 2015 Dec 1.

22) Makaronidis JM, Neilson S, Cheung WH, Tymoszuk U, Pucci A, Finer N, Doyle J, Hashemi M, Elkalaawy M, Adamo M, Jenkinson A, Batterham RL. Reported appetite, taste and smell changes following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy: Effect of gender, type 2 diabetes and relationship to post-operative weight loss.Appetite. 2016 Jul 21. pii: S0195-6663(16)30298-7. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2016.07.029.

23) Steven S, Hollingsworth KG, Small PK, Woodcock SA, Pucci A, Aribasala B, Al-Mrabeh A, Batterham RL, Taylor R. Calorie restriction and not glucagon-like peptide-1 explains the acute improvement in glucose control after gastric bypass in Type 2 diabetes. Diabet Med. 2016 Dec;33(12):1723-1731.

24) Smith OJ, Hachach-Haram N, Greenfield M, Bystrzonowski N, Pucci A, Batterham RL, Hashemi M, Mosahebi A. Body Contouring Surgery and the Maintenance of Weight-Loss Following Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass: A Retrospective Study. Aesthet Surg J. 2018 Feb 17;38(2):176-182.

25) Pucci A, Tymoszuk U, Cheung WH, Makaronidis JM, Scholes S, Tharakan G, Elkalaawy M, Guimaraes M, Nora M, Hashemi M, Jenkinson A, Adamo M, Monteiro MP, Finer N, Batterham RL. Type 2 diabetes remission 2 years post Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy: the role of the weight loss and comparison of DiaRem and DiaBetter scores. Diabet Med. 2018 Mar;35(3):360-367.

26) Jassil FC, Carnemolla A, Kingett H, Paton B, O'Keeffe AG, Doyle J, Morris S, Lewis N, Kirk A, Pucci A, Chaiyasoot K, Batterham RL. Protocol for a 1-year prospective, longitudinal cohort study of patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy: the BARI-LIFESTYLE observational study. BMJ Open. 2018 Mar 16;8(3):e020659.

27) Pucci A, Batterham RL. Mechanisms underlying the weight loss effects of RYGB and SG: similar, yet different. J Endocrinol Invest. 2019 Feb;42(2):117-128.

28) Tymoszuk U, Kumari M, Pucci A, Cheung WH, Kirk A, Tschiala A, Carr-Rose K, Kingett H, Doyle J, Jenkinson A, Hashemi M, Adamo M, Elkalaawy M, Stafford M, Batterham RL. Is Pre-operation Social Connectedness Associated with Weight Loss up to 2 Years Post Bariatric Surgery? Obes Surg. 2018 Nov;28(11):3524-3530.

29) Dorling JL, Clayton DJ, Jones J, Carter WG, Thackray AE, King JA, Pucci A, Batterham RL, Stensel DJ. A randomized crossover trial assessing the effects of acute exercise on appetite, circulating ghrelin concentrations, and butyrylcholinesterase activity in normal-weight males with variants of the obesity-linked FTO rs9939609 polymorphism. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Nov 1;110(5):1055-1066. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz188.

30) Stahel P, Nahmias A, Sud SK, Lee SJ, Pucci A, Yousseif A, Yosseff A, Jackson T, Urbach DR, Okrainec A, Allard JP, Sockalingam S, Yao J(11), Barua, Jiao H, Magi R, Bassett AS, Paterson AD, Dahlman I, Batterham RL, Dash S. Evaluation of the Genetic Association Between Adult Obesity and Neuropsychiatric Disease. Diabetes. 2019 Sep 10. pii: db181254. doi: 10.2337/db18-1254.1

31) Di Lorenzo N, Antoniou SA, Batterham RL, Busetto L, Godoroja D, Iossa A,Carrano FM, Agresta F, Alarçon I, Azran C, Bouvy N, Balaguè Ponz C, Buza M,
Copaescu C, De Luca M, Dicker D, Di Vincenzo A, Felsenreich DM, Francis NK, Fried M, Gonzalo Prats B, Goitein D, Halford JCG, Herlesova J, Kalogridaki M,Ket H, Morales-Conde S, Piatto G, Prager G, Pruijssers S, Pucci A, Rayman S,Romano E, Sanchez-Cordero S, Vilallonga R, Silecchia G. Clinical practice
guidelines of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES) on bariatric surgery: update 2020 endorsed by IFSO-EC, EASO and ESPCOP. SurgEndosc. 2020 Jun

32) Pucci A, Batterham RL. Endocrinology of the Gut and the Regulation of BodyWeight and Metabolism. 2020 Apr 25. In: Feingold KR, Anawalt B, Boyce A,Chrousos G, de Herder WW, Dungan K, Grossman A, Hershman JM, Hofland HJ, KaltsasG, Koch C, Kopp P, Korbonits M, McLachlan R, Morley JE, New M, Purnell J, SingerF, Stratakis CA, Trence DL, Wilson DP, editors. Endotext [Internet].