(Dec 11, 2020) Dr. Cheri Levinson, Associate Professor and Director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Lab at the University of Louisville, recently received an R15 award from the NIH National Institute of Mental Health entitled, “Personalized Networks and Sensor Technology Algorithms of Eating Disorder Symptoms Predicting Eating Disorder Outcomes.” 

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Read more from Dr. Levinson:
Eating disorders are a significant public health concern that carry high rates of mortality, morbidity, and medical complications. This project will identify the maintaining symptoms of eating disorders within individuals. We do this by utilizing a combination of network analytic strategies, wearable sensor technology, and intensive longitudinal data collection using mobile assessment. 

Until we can identify what maintains or exacerbates individual symptoms, clinicians will continue to have difficulty accurately predicting prognosis and will have no empirical guidance to develop targeted treatment plans to promote recovery, therefore, the proposed research has significant public health relevance, as it will lead to personalized, novel, effective treatments that promote full remission and decrease the high societal burden associated with eating disorders. 

Additionally, this R15 proposal has established a cross-training program – the only program of this type in existence – in psychology and engineering for both undergraduate and graduate students at UofL. 

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More information on Dr. Levinson’s project can be found here.