Stanford School of Medicine
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Key Documents

PDFNIH Biosketch available Online

John Morton

Contact Information

  • Clinical Offices
    Surgical Specialities Clinic 300 Pasteur Dr A160 MC 5313 Stanford, CA 94305
    Telephone Work (650) 736-7102 Fax (650) 736-1663
  • Academic Offices
    Personal Information
    Email morton@stanford.edu Tel (650) 725-9777
    Administrative Contact
    Katt Clark Administrative Associate Tel Work 650-723-5672
    Not for medical emergencies or patient use

Clinical Focus

  • Bariatric Surgery
  • Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive
  • Gastric Bypass
  • gastric banding
  • sleeve gastrectomy
  • General Surgery
  • Gastrointestinal Surgical Procedure
  • GERD
  • Esophageal Achalasia
  • Paraesophageal Hiatal Hernia
  • Hernia, Abdominal
  • Splenectomy
  • Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic
  • natural orifice surgery
  • esophyx; stomaphyx
  • single incision surgery

Administrative Appointments

  • Associate, NIH Digestive Disease Center , (2009– present )
  • Co-Director, Digestive Health Center , (2009– present )
  • Editorial Board, World Journal of Gastroenterology , (2009– present )
  • Elected Faculty Senator at Large, Stanford Faculty Senate , (2009– present )
  • Section Chief, Minimally Invasive Surgery, Stanford School of Medicine , (2009– present )
  • Director, (SCORE) Stanford Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation , (2007– present )
  • Director, Surgical Quality, Stanford University Medical Center , (2007– present )
  • Associate Editor, Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases, SOARD Journal for ASBS , (2005– present )
  • Editorial Board, Obesity Surgery , (2007– present )
  • Minimally Invasive Surgery Fellowship Director, Stanford School of Medicine , (2004– present )
  • Surgery Sub-Internship Director, Stanford School of Medicine , (2003– 2007 )
  • Expert Reviewer for Bariatric Surgery(only two MDs Chosen), California Medical Board , (2006– present )
  • Chairman, Outcomes Committee, SAGES , (2004– present )
  • Member, Program, Research Committee, American Society of Bariatric Surgery , (2004– present )
  • Medical Advisor, Centers of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery, California Blue Shield , (2004– present )

Honors and Awards

  • Invited Address, Weighing in on Improving Bariatric Surgery, UK Bariatric Surgery Annual Meeting, Chichester, England (2009)
  • Outstanding Abstract, Improvement in Adolescent Cardiac Risk Factors after Gastric Bypass, International Federation of Surgery for Obesity (August 2009)
  • Invited Address, Utilizing Patient Safety Indicators in Quality Improvement, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (2009)
  • Invited Address, The Role of the Surgical Champion, NSQIP, American College of Surgeons (2009)
  • Ethan Sims Young Investigator Finalist Award, Obesity Society (2009)
  • Excellence in Teaching, Stanford School of Medicine (2009)
  • Best Student Poster, Stanford School of Medicine Research Symposium (2009)
  • Most Newsworthy Abstract (only 5 of 800 chosen), Digestive Diseases Week (2009)
  • Expert Panel on Bariatric Surgery for BMI< 35, RAND (2009)
  • Magisterial Address, 2009 Annual Meeting, Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía General y el Colegio Americano de Cirujanos (2009)
  • Most Newsworthy Abstract (only 5 of 800 chosen), Digestive Diseases Week (2008)
  • President-Elect, California Chapter of the American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeons (2008)
  • Best Student Research Poster, Stanford University School of Medicine (2008)
  • Arthur L. Bloomfield Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Clinical Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine (2008)
  • Visiting Professor, Vanderbilt (2008)
  • Young Investigator of the Year, SAGES (2008)
  • Visiting Professor, Henry Ford Hospitals (2007)
  • Visiting Professor, St.Antonius Hospitals, Maastricht, Holland (2007)
  • Best Fellow Presentation, SAGES, Las Vegas, NV (2007)
  • Expert Panel on Birth Outcomes after Bariatric Surgery, RAND (2007)
  • Gastric Bypass and Cardiac Risk Factors: Is the Way to Heart Through the Stomach?, Inaugural Conference on Obesity Diabetes and Hypertension, Berlin, Germany (2006)
  • Poster of Distinction, SAGES, Las Vegas, NV (2006)
  • Best Poster Award (170 posters presented), International Federation of Surgery for Obesity, Sydney, Australia (2006)
  • Ronald H.Fegelman Memorial Lecturer, Jewish Hospital, Cincinnati, OH (2006)
  • Excellence in Teaching, Stanford School of Medicine (2005)
  • Expert Panel on Bariatric Surgery Quality Indicators, RAND (May 2004)

Professional Education

  • University of North Carolina (2003) NC
  • Board Certification: General Surgery, American Board of Surgery (2002)
  • Swedish Medical Center on Broadway (2001) WA
  • Tulane University Hospital and Clinic (1999) LA
  • Tulane University Hospital and Clinic (1994) LA
  • Tulane University School of Medicine (1993) LA
  • MD, Tulane (1993)
  • MPH, Tulane (1993)
  • MHA, University of Washington (1997)

Postdoctoral Advisees

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

Research Interests

Bariatric Surgery

Morbid obesity represents the second leading cause of preventable death in the US, scheduled to surpass tobacco as the leading cause of preventable death due to obesity’s epidemic rate of growth. Despite this clear and present danger to the nation’s health, only bariatric surgery extends hope to the morbidly obese. Laparoscopy, as in previous clinical iterations, has widened the potential pool of patients seeking surgical management of disease. Accompanying this increase in procedures should be a concurrent rise in bariatric research. Morbid obesity represents for me a compelling juncture of my laparoscopic, public health, and outcomes training that I hope to employ in examining the following questions.

Evidence-Based Surgery
The clinical science of surgery has made spectacular gains in the past century and the new century will no doubt see more advances perhaps with the aid of evidence-based medicine. Surgery has been a recent convert to the philosophy of evidence- based medicine. Surgery results have often been in the form of case series or expert opinion, which are ranked lowly in evidence grading. Given market changes and the consumer revolution reaching medicine, the ability to perform physician-oriented research will be limited. The powerful statistical and epidemiological tools that evidence- based medicine employs can help answer questions that may have no other recourse. Surgery, unlike other clinical sciences, does not lend itself to randomization. Patients, particularly in the laparoscopic experience, will demand only one arm of any randomized study. As a result, widespread dissemination of technology may take place prior to any assessment of the technology. Given these circumstances, well-designed observational studies are often the best approach. In addition, population-based studies provide a “real-world” assessment of clinical practices and avoid any study bias by examining the entire population of interest. In this manner, surgeons can provide evidence for their patients, colleagues, and payers. Evidence-based surgery can provide the ability to assess technology, improve quality of care, and maintain patient safety as noted in the below research questions.

Surgical Education
There has been much discussion regarding quality in medicine and reducing medical error. Concern regarding patient safety in teaching hospitals has focused on resident work hours, particularly call nights. A potential for system improvement lies within our surgical educational system. Given impending constraints on resident work hours, it is important to optimize teaching opportunities. Further argument for improvement of our educational system lies in part with recent unfilled surgery match positions. Resident surgeons are changing in their demographics and life experiences requiring a change in century-old Halsteadian techniques and more emphasis on adult learning. This emphasis on adult learning has further import on continued education for more experienced surgeons, critically important in the setting of new technology and emphasis on competence.

Clinical Trials

Publications