Upcoming Webinars

Description:

The Guidebook for Nutrition Treatment of Eating Disorders serves as a resource to clinicians who are providing nutrition interventions to individuals with eating disorders. While this guidebook is not intended to provide comprehensive medical nutrition therapy, it serves as an excellent foundation based on best available research and current best practices and offers benefits to clinicians with limited experience treating these disorders. This webinar will be valuable to nutrition professionals and also to clinicians in other fields, especially the mental health fields. 

• Marcia Herrin EdD, MPH, RDN, LD, CD, FAED
  Dietitian Marcia Herrin, who has a doctorate in nutrition education and master’s in public health nutrition, is the founder of Dartmouth College’s nationally renowned eating disorder treatment program for college students. She is a Clinical Professor at Dartmouth’s Medical school with an appointment in the Adolescent Medicine Faculty. She provides training to Pediatric Residents at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth. She has treated eating disorder patients for over 35 years. She is the author of Nutrition Counseling in the Treatment of Eating Disorders (2013) and The Parent’s Guide to Eating Disorders (2007). Marcia received her doctorate in nutrition education from Columbia University. At the University of California-Berkeley, she received her masters degree and completed a dietetic internship. Marcia was honored as a fellow in the Academy of Eating Disorders in 2013. Marcia credits much of her success with patients with eating disorders and obesity to her own struggles with and recovery from these conditions    

• Leah L Graves RDN, LDN, hon CEDRD-S, FAED
  Leah Graves is Vice President of Nutrition and Culinary Services for Accanto Health with brands The Emily Program and Veritas Collaborative. She is a founding member and fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders who has treated individuals with eating disorders for more than 30 years. Leah has presented at the International Conference on Eating Disorders, International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals Symposium, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in addition to numerous regional conferences and has written several publications pertaining to nutrition and eating disorders. She is highly respected within the eating disorders field for her expertise in nutrition therapy, nutrition counseling and clinical supervision.

• Therese S. Waterhous PhD, RDN, CEDS, FAED
  Therese Waterhous is an eating disorder specialist currently doing consulting and training as part of a private practice, Willamette Nutrition Source, LLC. She has served on various committees and task forces for the Academy of Nutrition and
  Dietetics (AND), the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP), and the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) and is currently active on the Medical Care Standards Committee and the Nutrition Task Force of AED. She is one of the authors of the AED Nutrition Guidelines booklet. In 2016-2017, she received and has executed work on a grant from the local Coordinated Care Organization to train other health care professionals in three counties about eating disorder evaluation and treatment. She continues to teach and train clinicians in Oregon, including medical students, psychiatry residents, insurance company staff, county and state organizational staff and presents about eating disorders nationally.
  
  

• Kerri Heckert, MS, RD, LDN, CEDS-S
  Kerri is an anti-diet Registered Dietitian, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist-Approved Supervisor and Co-Founder and Director of Nutrition at Main Line Center for Eating Disorders. Kerri serves as the co-chair for the Academy
  of Eating Disorder’s Nutrition Special Interest Group, Vice President of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) and is an active member of the Academy of Eating
  Disorders’ Medical Care Standards Committee. Kerri has presented locally, nationally and internationally on pediatric eating disorders and has been published in peer reviewed journals, pediatric nutrition textbooks and the Pediatric Nutrition Care Manual. She has provided multiple trainings for clinicians, schools, eating disorder centers and community groups on preventing weight-based harm, fighting diet culture, and early recognition and rapid intervention for treating pediatric and adolescent eating disorders. Kerri also provides approved supervision for Registered Dietitians and other clinicians looking to specialize in treating eating disorders. 
  
  

Description:

This educational webinar offers an exploration of adapted treatments for eating disorders specifically within racial and ethnic minority groups. Highlighting the need for tailored therapeutic approaches, this session will discuss the populations traditionally involved in the development of the most effective eating disorder treatments and the necessity for cultural adaptations.

Key discussion points will include a detailed presentation on a study focused on loss of control eating among Black teenagers. This study underscores culturally relevant factors that potentially influence treatment outcomes, emphasizing the importance of incorporating cultural awareness into therapeutic practices. Furthermore, the webinar will explore findings from a multinational study involving adolescent girls from Australia, China, India, and Iran. This segment aims to illuminate cross-cultural differences and similarities that are critical in understanding the risk factors associated with appearance and eating concerns among populations typically underrepresented in eating disorder research.

Our goal is to equip participants with a deeper understanding of the critical considerations needed to deliver effective treatment to minoritized populations. This includes recognizing and addressing the often overlooked cultural distinctions within diverse Asian countries and beyond, fostering a more inclusive and effective approach to treatment.

• Vani Kakar, PhD. 
  Dr. Vani Kakar (she/her) is a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Psychology at San Francisco State University. She earned her PhD in Psychology from Macquarie University, Australia. Her research encompasses two primary areas: body image and disordered eating, as well as acculturation and minority experiences. Her work examines the role of sociocultural influences on adolescent well-being, with a specific focus on individuals from diverse backgrounds and those living in low- to middle-income countries. At present, she is investigating how experiences of discrimination including those relating to social class, gender, and immigration, relate to adolescents' engagement in risky health behaviors such as tobacco use. 

• Amy Egbert, PhD, University of Connecticut
  Dr. Amy Egbert is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the etiology, correlates, and treatment of disordered eating in youth from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. Her work examines how social and environmental influences (e.g., food marketing, access to healthy foods) impact these eating behaviors. Within this work, she is particularly interested in understanding (1) eating disorders in youth living in larger bodies, (2) the role that minority stressors, such as discrimination and racism, play in what youth eat and whether they develop eating disorders, and (3) how evidence-based treatments can be adapted to best serve youth without access to specialty mental health care.

• Iman McPherson
  Iman graduated from Tufts University in 2022, where she studied Psychology, Philosophy, and Child Study and Human Development. She developed her research interest in eating disorders in underrepresented populations as an undergraduate, and received an internal grant to complete a research review of binge-eating disorder among Black American women. Since graduating, Iman has been working at Massachusetts General Hospital as the lead Clinical Research Coordinator on an R01 investigating the neurobiology of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). She also received an NIH Diversity Supplement to undertake a substudy on the neurocognitive profile of ARFID under the senior mentorship of Jennifer Thomas, PhD. Iman has received an Early-Career Travel Scholarship from the AED, and serves as Co-Chair of the Black and Brown Professionals in Eating Disorders Special Interest Group. Iman will begin her doctoral training in clinical psychology this fall, with a special interest in eating disorders, mental health disparities, and self-destructive behaviors among diverse and marginalized populations.