CARE researchers present new findings at Eating Disorders Research Society annual meeting
Members of the Center for the Advancement of Research on Eating Behaviors (CARE) attended the annual Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS) meeting this past September to present new findings from the Center. The annual meeting, held this year in Sitges, Spain, provides eating disorder (ED) specialists from across the globe the chance to foster connections and engage in cutting-edge research related to anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and more.
Upon returning from the conference, CARE members reflect on their research progress, what they learned from their international colleagues, and cultural excursion highlights from their time in Spain.
From Dr. Kelsie Forbush, CARE Director
New Research Frontiers
"In terms of my research, I presented a poster on a project that aims to develop a week-to-week routine outcomes monitoring tool for EDs. This work was a labor of love and has taken around 10 years to fully develop. It was exciting to present it at EDRS, and the publication describing this work is currently under review.
"One of my favorite talks was on ultra-processed food. It brought up some interesting and controversial work that needs to be done to ensure public policy does not inadvertently promote ED messages and behaviors when keeping the public healthy and informed."
Exploring Spain
"The soy lattes were terrific and so affordable! They came with a small piece of dark chocolate, and it was the perfect jet lag and afternoon pick-me-up. (Also, the paella was amazing!)
From Robert William Morgan IV, CARE Graduate Student
New Research Frontiers
"I presented research on the associations between different ED symptoms and core military-relevant traumatic experiences among military veterans. What I found was that military sexual trauma (MST) was positively associated with more purging, restricting, and binge eating behavior in women. Comparatively, I identified that warfare experience (e.g., combat experience) was associated with more restrictive eating behavior in men. These findings could suggest that different traumatic experiences carry differential ED symptom risk when comparing across binary gender.
"During my time at EDRS, I really enjoyed learning about novel interventions and treatment opportunities for those with disordered eating challenges, particularly those geared towards adolescents and children. It was a terrific opportunity to network with those in my field and see how much ED-focused research has reached others internationally."
Exploring Spain
"Spain was wonderful, and I’ll really miss the old buildings and the Gothic architecture of Barcelona and Sitges."
From Sonakshi Negi, CARE Graduate Student
New Research Frontiers
"I presented data from my master’s thesis project, 'A Pilot Study of "Help for Overcoming Problem Eating" (HOPE): A Single Session Intervention for College Students with Binge-Spectrum Eating Disorders.' Single-session interventions are structured programs that are designed solely and intentionally to involve only a single client encounter. HOPE taught participants to engage in regular eating to reduce binge eating. Results showed that HOPE had high user satisfaction and acceptability. We also found that people who used HOPE likely benefited from it! It was really great to present these findings at EDRS, and I got a lot of strong questions at the poster session.
"Because EDRS was in Spain this year, I got to see a lot more ongoing European research. The more I learn about EDs, the more I realize how much more there is to still learn. It was really great to see how hard the international ED research community is working to improve the lives of people with ED!
"The 'severe and enduring EDs' symposium, in particular, left me thinking about the need for more computationally and clinically useful classification, as well as the need for efficacious treatments."
Exploring Spain
"All the food was AMAZING. If I had to pick just one thing, my favorite was the coconut milk garlic butter mussels!
"Also, the Mediterranean Sea was beautiful, and Basílica de la Sagrada Familia and Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar were simply awe-inspiring!"
On the Horizon for CARE
With 23 scientific papers published between 2022 and 2023 and millions of grant dollars from the Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health, and more funders, CARE maintains rigorous research output and demonstrates a dedication to improving treatment outcomes for patients with EDs.
To learn more about Forbush, Morgan, and Negi's work, see their profiles for recent publications. Stay in touch with progress on multiple CARE studies and new findings by following the center on Instagram, Facebook, and X.