Meet the People Behind Your Transformation
Our team is built on personal experience, clinical expertise, and a shared belief that lasting health is about far more than the number on a scale.
Dr. Valdes graduated from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in Tampa and completed a residency in General Surgery at Christiana Care Hospital in Newark, Delaware. He later shifted his focus to Internal Medicine, completing his training at Cleveland Clinic Hospital.
This combination of surgical and medical training gives Dr. Valdes a uniquely comprehensive view of obesity treatment, grounded in both science and lived experience. Having struggled with obesity himself following medical school, he brings deep empathy to every patient relationship.
As Medical Director of SFWL, he draws on more than 20 years in medicine and thousands of patient interactions to guide individuals toward their healthiest selves, with an emphasis on long-term maintenance, not just short-term results.
Dr. Gerardo Valdes
Julie Valdes R.N.
Julie has been a registered nurse for over 20 years, earning her nursing degree from Jackson Hospital School of Nursing and her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida International University.
She began her career as a bone marrow transplant nurse at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, then continued that specialized work at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland. Back in South Florida, she transitioned into critical care and surgical services before joining Dr. Valdes to build SFWL.
Her warmth, precision, and commitment to patient wellbeing are felt in every interaction at the practice. Julie now works alongside her husband helping individuals achieve and maintain an ideal body weight and a healthy lifestyle.
Born from Personal Experience, Built for You
South Florida Weight Loss & Wellness didn't begin in a boardroom. It began with a physician who had lived the struggle himself. After years in medicine, Dr. Gerardo Valdes recognized something that traditional healthcare often misses: treating obesity requires the same seriousness, compassion, and ongoing support as any other chronic condition.
"I knew what it felt like to be on the other side of the exam table, to want to change, but not know how to make it last."
Together with his wife Julie, a seasoned registered nurse with over two decades of clinical experience, Dr. Valdes opened SFWL with a simple but powerful mission: to combine the very best of medical science with the kind of personal, sustained support that actually works. Julie brought with her a background in some of the most demanding care environments in medicine, from bone marrow transplant units to critical care, and channeled that expertise into building a practice where patients feel genuinely seen.
Today, SFWL is more than a weight loss center. It's a place where patients find real answers, real accountability, and a team that believes transformation is always possible at any age, at any starting point. We've walked this road too, and we'll walk it with you.