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and treatment of mental illnesses.

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Eating Disorders Research Program

Overview

This program supports research on the etiology, core features, longitudinal course, and assessment of eating disorders. It also supports studies focusing on the elucidation of risk factors for the onset or recurrence of psychopathology. Intervention development studies grounded in findings from psychopathology are supported as the next step in the translation of basic research to effective treatments.

Areas of Emphasis

  • Identifying phenotypes and endophenotypes as new targets for assessment and therapeutics that are emerging from integrative genetics, pathophysiology, and psychopathology research
  • Conducting translational research on cognition, emotion, and affect dysregulation to find new strategies for treating eating disorders
  • Identifying ways in which genetic and environmental factors interact to raise or lower risk for eating disorders
  • Developing new preventive and treatment interventions targeted to specific cognitive, emotional, or interpersonal components of the psychopathology of eating disorders
  • Using modern psychometric and statistical theories to advance fundamental conceptualizations of nosology and consequent approaches toward more focused assessment and treatment of the many dimensions and subtypes that constitute eating disorders

Contact

Mark Chavez, Ph.D.
Program Chief
6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 7126, MSC 9632
301-443-8942, mchavez1@mail.nih.gov