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Abstract
Eating disorders are serious psychiatric illnesses, carrying high morbidity, mortality, and financial and societal burden. In 2018 and 2019, the societal cost of eating disorders was estimated at $64.7 billion with 10,000 deaths in the last year alone. Despite the high costs and impairment, funding and treatments for eating disorders are lacking. For example, funding for eating disorder research is unacceptably low, with only .73 cents allotted per impacted individual. This pales in comparison to other mental health research priorities, such as autism and schizophrenia, which are allotted $58.65 and $86.97 per impacted individual, respectively. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the lack of funding, treatments for eating disorders are often subpar, with only 50% of adults with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder responding to ‘gold-standard’ treatments. Further, there are no existing medications or evidence-based treatments with documented efficacy for adult anorexia nervosa. This treatment gap is further complicated by the fact that eating disorder research is overwhelmingly more likely to be published in specialty journals, with significantly lower rates of acceptance in broad field-wide outlets and lower attendance by eating disorder experts at non-specialty conferences. There is a strong need for change in the eating disorder field. More funding, better treatments, and wider impact from scholars in multiple fields are needed. This webinar draws on the expertise of scholars with decades of experience both within and outside the eating disorder field to address this problem. The ultimate goal of this webinar is to begin a discussion of what eating disorder scholars can do to help increase the impact of the eating disorder field, and ultimately decrease the unacceptable levels of suffering in those with eating disorders.
Speakers
Dr. Pamela Keel, Florida State University: Dr. Pamela Keel is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU). Dr. Keel has received grants from the National Institutes of Health for her research on the nosology, biology, epidemiology, and longitudinal course of bulimic syndromes and as co-Director of the NIMH-funded Integrated Clinical Neuroscience Training Program at FSU. Within her program of research, she defined and characterized Purging Disorder as a potentially new disorder of eating, and this work contributed to the inclusion of Purging Disorder as an Otherwise Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-5). Dr. Keel has authored over 230 papers and four books on the topic of eating disorders, including The Void Inside: Bringing Purging Disorder to Light published July 2020 by Oxford University Press. Her scientific contributions have been recognized by achieving the status of Fellow in the Academy for Eating Disorders, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Psychological Association and receiving the Leadership Award in Research from the Academy for Eating Disorders.
Dr. Mark Chavez, National Institute of Health: Dr. Mark Chavez is the NIMH Program Chief for the Adult Eating Disorder Program in the Division of Translational Research, and coordinates the NIMH eating disorders programs across the different Institute Divisions.
Dr. Angus MacDonald III, University of Minnesota: Dr. MacDonald is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Translational Research in Cognitive and Affective Mechanisms Laboratory at the University of Minnesota. His research explores questions in basic cognitive and affective neuroscience, and the biological bases of psychopathology, using methodologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), behavioral genetics (twin and family studies), clinical assessment, and cognitive testing and cognitive interventions such as training with and without neuromodulation. Dr. MacDonald has a consistent track record of being funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and currently serves as PI on several R series grants. Dr. MacDonald has been the recipient of several awards including the NARSAD Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Prize for Schizophrenia Research and the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship at the University of Minnesota. He serves as consulting editor for the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
Dr. Robert Krueger, University of Minnesota: Robert F. Krueger PhD is currently Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. He previously served as Hathaway Distinguished Professor and DIrector of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota. He has authored numerous scholarly publications in areas such as Personality Disorders, Psychopathology, Psychometrics, Genetics, and Health, and has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science group (0.1% of the world's researchers, across 21 research fields, have earned this distinction). He has been the recipient of major awards, including the Hoch Award from the American Psychopathological Association (APPA) and the Theodore Millon Award from the American Psychological Foundation (APF). He is the current co-Editor of the Journal of Personality Disorders.