Membership

AED consists of a multitude of members from the entire spectrum of health professionals who are personally or professionally involved with individuals with eating disorders.

You may donate by visiting the Donate page of this website. 

Our Mission: The Academy for Eating Disorders is a global professional association committed to leadership in eating disorders research, education, treatment, and prevention.

Our Vision: Global access to knowledge, research and best treatment practice for eating disorders.

Our Strategic Goals:

1. Generate knowledge and integrate collective expertise about Eating Disorders.
2. Provide platforms for the promotion of understanding, sharing of knowledge, & research-practice integration in the field of Eating Disorders.
3. Build capacity in the next generation of Eating Disorder professionals.
4. Foster innovation & best practice by recognizing excellence in the field of Eating Disorders.

AED is led by a member-elected group of leaders (Executive Officers) and a Board that covers day-to-day business. There is a time-limited tenure for those individuals. View the current leadership of AED and an organization chart.

There are various committees that work on issues related to AED and the eating disorders field, making proposals that are then approved by the Board and Leadership. This process ensures that the decisions are made based on broad support and in line with general goals.

AED is financed through membership fees and donations. The Finance Committee oversees budgetary and fiscal matters of the AED. It reviews the financial conduct of the AED, advises the Executive Committee on fiscal matters, oversees the implementation of budgetary priorities and assists with the preparation of the annual budget along with advising the Board concerning its approval.

AED is meant to be a platform for health professionals who work in the eating disorders field and other individuals who are personally affected by eating disorders (e.g., family members). This involves teaching, networking, support for finding therapists around the world and discussions with other health professionals.

AED's main event is the annual International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED), a scientific conference that spans research and education from basic science to the treating clinician and back.

The ICED also has a teaching day that provides in-depth training for clinicians.

AED members also have access to various listservs for discussion of a broad range of topics.

AED has a continuous education (CE) program in which professionals can earn credit toward their licensure requirements.

You can become a member by visiting Join AED page.

AED members can find contact information for other members by searching the Member Directory.  

To post on the community, log into your account and select AED online community from the menu on the right-hand side. Once inside the community, you can go to either your Dashboard or to AED Discussions using the menu across the top of the screen. Here you will find the general discussion forum, a discussion list by topic, as well as recent activity within the community. Use the green dropdown menu to Quick Start a discussion on either the main forum or a topic-specific one.

The AED website provides education on eating disorder symptoms and treatment for any site visitor, including non-members. This helps provide objective information and treatment recommendations.

There are various educational documents in the Eating Disorders Information and Resources for Professionals sections, as well as in Conference and Education and Continuous Education, on the AED website.  

Being a member of the AED helps researchers connect and collaborate with each other and keep abreast of recent developments in eating disorders research. The annual International Conference on Eating Disorders (ICED) is attended by leading international researchers and includes presentations and discussions on the cutting edge of research in the field. In addition, the AED offers grants to support innovative and cutting edge research in the field of eating disorders. AED also allows researchers to connect with other researchers and professionals in order to recruit participants for their studies by purchasing space on the AED website and announcing the study in its member listserv. A recent initiative was to develop the "Guidelines for Research-Practice Integration in the Field of Eating Disorders," a guidelines aimed at strengthening research-practice integration within its activities and within the field of eating disorders.