About Us

Assoc/Prof Peter Nottle is the director of Victorian Bariatric Surgery Centre.  He has recently stepped down as Unit Head of GI Surgery at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, a large unit with 10 surgeons combining both Upper GI and HPB Surgery.   The unit specializes in the treatment of Upper GI Cancers, Bariatric Surgery and hiatus hernias.   At The Alfred he was integral in the establishment of a multidisciplinary bariatric surgical service that now performs more than 300 bariatric procedures per year.  This service is integrated into, and complements the upper gastrointestinal services at the hospital.   Assoc/Prof Nottle’s own practice reflects his Unit interest with particular emphasis in Gastric and Oesophageal Cancer, Bariatric Surgery, hiatus hernia surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and gastro-intestinal endoscopy.  He graduated from Monash University in 1970 and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1978.  Following his Fellowship he spent almost 2 years working in England developing his surgical skills, particularly in Upper GI surgery and gastrointestinal endoscopy.  On return from the UK, he was appointed Visiting Surgeon to the Alfred Hospital and continued developing both these areas.  In early 1990, he was the first surgeon to perform a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy using the French technique at The Alfred and supervised many workshops teaching laparoscopic cholecystectomy and other laparoscopic procedures over the subsequent years.

Mr Bassari completed his medical degree in 2004 at the University of Auckland. This was followed by specialist surgical training (FRACS) which he completed in 2012. He pursued further sub-specialist training in the fields of Bariatric/Metabolic and Upper Gastrointestinal surgery for the next 4 years. This included 2 years through the competitive ANZGOSA training scheme.  He is involved with the training of surgical registrars (future surgeons) and attends regular scientific meetings both nationally and internationally, in order to maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills.

In his spare time, he trains in martial arts including Muay Thai and MMA.

Yahya started basic surgical training in Iraq. There, he worked in one of the busiest trauma centres. Then, Yahya moved to UAE then UK to finish his basic surgical training and obtain Membership with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (MRCSI).   Later, he moved to Australia to pursue his advanced surgical training through Austin Health. He finished his advanced surgical training and obtained Fellowship of Australasian College of Surgeon (FRACS) through Austin Health.  After that, Yahya took a fellowship year in the Acute Surgical Unit at Eastern Health in Victoria. Then, he did further 3 years of subspecialty training in upper gastrointestinal tract surgery and interventional endoscopy through Australia and New Zealand Gastro-oesophageal Surgical Association (ANZGOSA) training program. Through his ANZGOSA training, he rotated through a few busy cancer centers in WA and Victoria.  Recently, he has become an Associate Fellow of the American College of Surgeon (ACS).

Bariatrics is a medical specialty that offers treatment for those who are overweight. This may include a programme of diet and nutrition, exercise, behaviour modification, lifestyle changes and appropriate medications. Bariatric surgery (obesity surgery or weight loss surgery) includes a variety of procedures performed on people who are obese (severely overweight). The main aim is to reduce the size of the stomach to help achieve long-term weight loss. Three key procedures are: reducing the size of the stomach with an implanted band (gastric banding); removing part of the stomach (sleeve gastrectomy or biliopancreatic diversion); or by redirecting the small intestines to a small stomach pouch (gastric bypass).

Female surgeon, speaks English, Dutch, French, and German