Eating Disorders Summer Research Fellowship

2024

Po-Han Kung, University of Melbourne
Research Project: Hippocampal resting-state effective connectivity in restrictive eating disorders and its association with ghrelin

Kathryn Pasquariello, Suffolk University
Research Project: Reading Between the Beeps: Modeling Temporal Dynamics in Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder via Network Analysis

Julia Engelkamp, Konstanz University
Research Project: Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

2023

Copeland Winten, Queensland University of Technology
Research Project: Dietetic Led Treatment for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

Susana C. Garcia, University at Albany, SUNY
Research Project: Preliminary Development and Validation of the Barriers to Eating Disorder Treatment Scale

Vittoria Trolio, McGill University
Research Project: Cholecystokinin and ghrelin are associated with different domains of symptom severity in avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder: A cross-sectional and longitudinal investigation

2022

Taylor Rezeppa, Ohio University
Research Project: Examining Serum Leptin in Youth and Young Adults with ARFID Across the Weight Spectrum

Yaen Chen, Northeastern University
Research Project: Understanding cortical thickness and surface area differences among adolescent females with low-weight avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)

2021

Sarah Dolan, Hofstra University
Research Project: Anhedonia in eating disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis 

Kaitlin Rozzell, University of Hawaii
Research Project: A comparison of ghrelin and PYY between individuals with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and healthy controls 

2020

Traci Carson, University of Michigan
Research Project: Identifying Latent Classes of Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome Outcomes & Predictors of Class Membership in a Sample of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division One Female Cross Country Runners

Christopher Mancuso, University of Wyoming
Research Project: Examining associations between oxytocin and psychopathology in young women with low-weight eating disorders

2019

Mitchell Cunningham, University of Sydney
Research Projects: Explored associations between female muscularity concerns and other psychological variables. In a second project, analyzed data from Gay Bodies Worldwide, a multi-country prospective study of physical appearance phenomena – including eating disorders – among sexual minority men.

Evelyna Kambanis, University of Wyoming
Research Project: Examined the prevalence and correlates of current and lifetime psychiatric comorbidities and suicidality among a community-based sample of children and adolescents with full and sub-threshold avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).

Alexandra Stanford, Wellesley College
Research Project: Used fMRI data to analyze total grey and white matter volumes in adolescents with low weight eating disorders.

2018

Audrey Landheim, Brigham Young University
Research Project: Developed a mobile app (Fudo) that could be used in the secondary prevention of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, specifically targeting picky eating.

Helen Burton Murray, Drexel University
Research Project: Partnered with the gastroenterology clinic to document the prevalence of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in patients presenting to gastroenterology motility specialists.

2017

Marita Cooper, MPsych, Australian National University
Research Project: Conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the diagnostic validity of muscle dysmorphia

Alice Lowy, MA, Northeastern University
Research Project: Focused on synthesizing the literature on the relationship between thin-ideal internalization and eating pathology among black and white women

2016

Russell DuBois, MS, Northeastern University
Research project: Using network analysis to better understand the causal relationships among eating disorder symptoms

Setareh O’Brien, BA, Wesleyan University
Research project: Explored the relationship between adoption status and disordered eating symptoms

Yongjoo Kim, MPH, PhD, KMD, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
Research project: Investigated the prevalence of disordered weight control behaviors (DWCB) among Korean adolescents, as well as risk and protective factors at the individual, family, and school levels.

2015

Brittany Bohrer, University of Kansas
Research project: examined differences in impairment between individuals with purging-type bulimia nervosa, non-purging bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder

Lauren Forrest, Miami University of Ohio
Research project: examined whether eating disorder symptoms predicted suicidal desire among eating disorder patients

Rebecca DeSanti, Albany Medical College
Research project: examined neurocognitive function in females with anorexia nervosa

2014

Lisa Anderson, University at Albany (SUNY)
Research project: examined the relative contributions of fear and disgust to eating disorder symptomatology

Cindy Schmelkin, Harvard Medical School
Research project: examined the effects of oxytocin dysregulation and weight recovery on social cognition in women with anorexia nervosa

Suzanne Straebler, The University of Oxford (UK)
Research project: developed and evaluated scalable methods for improving the implementation of evidenced based treatments, like cognitive behavioral therapy, for eating disorders

2013

Deirdre Buckley, Harvard University
Research Project: conducted a literature review of determinants of bone mineral density in women with anorexia nervosa

Tiffany Graves, Boston University
Research project: conducted a meta-analytic review of the effect of therapeutic alliance on treatment outcome in eating disorders

Mun Yee Kwan, North Dakota State University
Research project: examined gender difference in the relationship between coping responses and bulimic symptoms

Melissa Stone, Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology
Research Project: examined the effect of therapist self-disclosure of personal recovery from an eating disorder on anticipated therapeutic alliance and treatment outcome

Charlotte Delaney, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Research Project: explored the new DSM-5 classification of pica and rumination disorder, as well as their community prevalence and comorbidity with other eating disorders. (Note, private funding through the Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

2012

Nouha Georges, Boston University
Research Project: Wrote a literature review of research in alexithymia (difficulty recognizing feelings) in women with anorexia nervosa

Rebecca Patterson, Muhlenberg College
Research Project: Conducted analyses to explore non-fat phobic anorexia nervosa

Jessica Yu, Rutgers University
Research Project: Examined the impact of daily stress on binge eating and purging in individuals with bulimia nervosa

2011

Doris Berman, Wellesley College
Research Projects: Literature review of mortality in anorexia and bulimia nervosa. Also, working in the Neuroendocrine Unit at Mass General on a study of physiologic testosterone in anorexia nervosa (low-dose testosterone to bring hormone to normal levels)

Bernice Raveche, Harvard School of Public Health
Research Project: Exploring the association between weight-based discrimination and disordered eating outcomes among ethnically diverse youth

Esmeralda Romero-Lorenzo, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Projects: Learning about and summarizing psychosocial development in anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and eating disorders not otherwise specified. Also, working with the Mass General Neuroendocrine Unit on a study of appetite regulating and stress hormones in the genetics of anorexia nervosa

Rebecca Shingleton, Boston University
Research Project: Working on a data-set that involves investigating real-time data (collected using ecological momentary assessment) in patients with self-injurious behavior, including binge/purge thoughts and behaviors

2010

Dan Donoho, Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Research Project: In conjunction with the Mass General Neuroendocrine Unit, working on a study of the neurobiology of appetite regulation in anorexia nervosa

Kara Gaughen, Boston University
Research Project: Reviewing the literature on eating disorders in male athletes, with a focus on manifestation of symptoms and issues surrounding identification and diagnosis at the collegiate level

Lauren Richards, Boston University
Research Project: Developing a new tool for the assessment of binge eating

Jennifer Slane, Michigan State University
Research Project: Working on her dissertation, which examines genetic and environmental influences on associations between bulimia nervosa and alcohol use disorders

2009

Margo Genderson, Boston University
Research Project: Reviewing the literature on eating disorders and their associated psychiatric conditions, focusing on shared genetic and environmental influences

Lauren Kronenfeld, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Project: Studying measures of body image assessment across racial and ethnic groups through a literature review

Jason Lavender, University at Albany, SUNY
Research Project: Examining how patterns of binge eating and purging progress over time in women with anorexia and bulimia

Zack Lipsman, Harvard University Extension School
Research Project: In conjunction with the MGH Neuroendocrine Unit, exploring whether the changes in stress and appetite regulating hormones exhibited in anorexia nervosa are associated with specific genes

2008

Michele Crisafulli, Boston University
Research Project: Examining the effects that different messages have on the public's perceptions of individuals with anorexia nervosa

Kyle De Young, University at Albany, State University of New York
Research Project: Investigating at what level behavioral symptoms may be present during periods of remission but not be predictive of future relapse

Jacob McGrane, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Project: Working with the MGH Neuroendocrine Department on studies involving therapeutic strategies for reducing bone loss in anorexia nervosa

2007

Stacey DiPalma, Brown University School of Medicine
Research Project: Determining the current place of eating disorders in the formal education of medical students

Kamryn Eddy, Boston University
Research Project: Nosology, or diagnostic classification of eating disorders

Loren Gianini, University of New Mexico
Research Project: Individual, familial and social factors that lead an individual to internalize the thin ideal

Sarah Merhar, Mount Holyoke College
Research Project: Internship at Neuroendocrinology Clinical Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital

Jolie Weingeroff, Boston University
Research Project: Strategies that individuals with eating disorders use to manage distress

2006

Lareina La Flair, Medical Education Department, Harvard Medical School
Research Project: Relationship between sexual assault and eating disorders in Asian women

Naomi Ray-Schoenfeld, Wesleyan University
Research Project: Internship at Neuroendocrinology Clinical Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital

Dana Satir, Boston University
Research Project: Clinicians' reactions to working with adolescents with eating disorders

2005

Maria Cristina Cruza-Guet, Lehigh University
Research Project: An examination of the National Eating Disorders Screening Program

Natalie Freed, University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Research Projects: Neuroendocrine modulation of metabolic effects in overweight adolescents; Effects of anorexia nervosa on peak bone mass; Growth hormone suppression in healthy children following administration of an oral glucose load

Monica Hsiung Wojcik, Princeton University
Research Project: Abnormalities of the growth hormone and IGF-I Axis in anorexia nervosa

Maria-Christina Stewart, University of Hawaii
Research Project: Public perceptions of women with anorexia nervosa

2004

Maria Frisch, University of Minnesota
Research Projects: Descriptive study of residential eating disorder treatment programs and study on arts-based therapies and eating disorders

Cori Kraus, Brandeis University
Research Project: Alcohol and drug use disorders in women with eating disorders

Rama Mulukutla, Meharry Medical College
Research Project: Androgen deficiency and osteopenia in anorexia nervosa

2003

Alison Hwong, Brown University
Research Project: Effects of testosterone and actonel on bone density and anorexia nervosa

2002

Emily Delf, Boston University
Research Project: Cognitive function in women with anorexia nervosa
Research Project: A prospective study of personality and disordered eating in an ethnically diverse sample of college women

2001

Lisa Rubin, Arizona State University
Research Project: Against the grain: Exploring African American and Latina women's strategies for resisting and accommodating mainstream beauty ideals

Dara Greenwood, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Research Project: The role of attachment style in the media-eating disorders equation

2000

Eileen P. Anderson, EdM, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Research Project: Culture, body image, and eating disorders in Belize

Valerie E. Charat, Harvard University
Research Project: The role of compulsive exercise and restrictive eating in women with eating disorders

Mary Beth Gordon, Harvard Medical School
Research Project: The effects of testosterone on functional brain abnormalities in women with anorexia nervosa

Abby Slate, Mount Holyoke College
Research Project: Eating and dieting behaviors among college women

1999

Gina Escamilla, Harvard School of Public Health
Research Project: Ethnicity and adolescent girls' response to print media: Implications for self and body Image

Abigail Judge, Brandeis University
Research Project: Treatment for anorexia nervosa in an era of managed care

1998

S. Bryn Austin, DSc, Harvard School of Public Health
Research Project: A prospective study of smoking and dieting in early adolescents

Susan Rushing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Research Project: Biological substrates that contribute to childhood anorexia nervosa Onset

1997

Cara James, Harvard University
Research Project: Body image and disordered eating among African-American women