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Postdoctoral Fellowship
Our commitment to educating new scientists has taken an exciting step forward. In addition to the Matina S. Horner, Ph.D., Research Fellowship that we established in 1997 for college and graduate students, we now have a one-year Postdoctoral Fellowship. Funded through an anonymous 2007 grant, this program will train professionals in the specialized treatment of individuals with eating disorders.
It’s our pleasure to introduce Kamryn Eddy, Ph.D., our first postdoctoral fellow. Although the fellowship program is new, the Center’s relationship with Kamryn goes back to her two years after college, when she worked with Dr. Herzog and Dr. Franko as a research assistant. She then pursued graduate education at Boston University (2001-2007), leading to her Ph.D. in clinical psychology. We stayed in touch with Kamryn throughout, collaborating with her on a number of important projects.
Kamryn has authored over 20 published papers. Broadly, her research interests are in understanding the causes, course, and treatment of eating disorders. Kamryn’s fellowship research focuses on the issue of nosology, or diagnostic classification. She is studying how well the current diagnostic system, which includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) "fits" individuals with disordered eating. Kamryn is interested in classification because it has significant implications for all of her research interests above. “If we haven’t correctly defined the disorders that we are examining or treating,” she explains, “our findings might be limited or invalid.” During her fellowship, Kamryn will conduct statistical analyses to determine whether categories of individuals with eating disorders can be empirically identified on the basis of observable characteristics; then she will compare her empirically-derived system with the one that is currently used (DSM-IV). She will also utilize the Longitudinal Study to examine EDNOS in women with a history of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. To seek future funding for these lines of research, she plans to spend part of her fellowship applying for a National Institute of Health grant.
The clinical piece of Kamryn’s fellowship builds on her years of training. Her enthusiasm for patient care is infectious. Recently she said, “I definitely want to provide psychotherapy for adults who are struggling with eating disorders, but I’m also very excited about working with children and adolescents and with their families.” Kamryn has had experience with individuals (both male in female) in inpatient and outpatient settings, learned a variety of approaches to therapy, and treated the full range of eating disorders. During her fellowship, she is rendering therapy to individuals of all ages while receiving supervision from Dr. Herzog and Dr. Franko. We are delighted to have Kamryn aboard!
This page was updated on August 24, 2007.
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