This fall, academic worlds are converging here in NYC and our group is delighted by the chance to participate in multiple conferences simultaneously. Members of our team will be at the annual conferences of the Eating Disorders Research Society (EDRS), Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and when the NYC meetings are over, some of us will travel out of town for the annual meeting of The Obesity Society.

Below is a sneak peek of when and where to find us in the weeks ahead, and what to expect. We know that conference schedules are busy, but we would love to connect.  Attend a talk, find us at a poster session, or in the hallways between symposia —  we would love to hear about the work you do and to tell you about our current research studies and treatment resources.

Symposia, Paper Sessions, & Workshops

October 27^th

EDRS

9AM: Drs. Attia and Steinglass will be participating in a NEDA-sponsored satellite program on just prior to the start of EDRS. This morning session titled, Using Insights into the Neurobiology of Behavior to Develop More Effective Treatments for Eating Disorders: A Translational Research Satellite, will include a discussion on reward and inhibition from Dr. Walter Kaye (UCSD) and habit and learning from Columbia’s Dr. Joanna Steinglass. (To hear a little more about our work on habit and eating disorders, you can listen to Dr. Steinglass speak about the force of habit on the Nature Neuropod podcast.

October 28^th

EDRS

2PM: Lily Offit, a Columbia research assistant, will present data in collaboration with colleagues Gabby Guzman and Dr. Joanna Steinglass to help answer the question: Does Eating Behavior Change During Treatment Among Outpatients with Anorexia Nervosa? If you would like to learn more about our commitment to eating behavior research, and our extensive program of study using laboratory meals, check out this interview with our group’s founder, Dr. B. Timothy Walsh.

2:30PM: Dr. Robyn Sysko (Mt. Sinai) will discuss Response Inhibition and Weight Loss Among Adolescents Before and After Bariatric Surgery, at a paper session. The data for this study was collected in conjunction with NY Presbyterian Hospital’s adolescent bariatric surgery program at the Columbia University Medical Center.  

4:15PM:

Dr. Robyn Sysko (Mt. Sinai) will also present a project titled Examining the Psychological and Functioning Correlates of DSM-5 Eating Disorder Severity Specifiers, completed in collaboration with Drs. Gianini (Columbia) and Roberto (University of Pennsylvania).  

Findings from a multi-site longitudinal study of adults undergoing bariatric surgery will be presented by Dr. Melissa Kalarchian (Duquesne University) in a paper titled Surgery-Related Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Prospective Study of Bariatric Surgery Patients: A 3-Year Follow-Up. Dr. Michael Devlin oversees the Columbia site’s participation in this ongoing longitudinal investigation.

Dr. Kim (Columbia) and colleagues will present findings from a biological study aimed to help answer the question: Does Leptin Predict Outcome in Anorexia Nervosa?

Dr. Wildes (University of Pittsburgh) will discuss Characterizing Severa and Enduring Anorexia Nervosa: And Empirical Approach, completed in collaboration with Drs. Attia and Gianini from Columbia.

Dr. Hay (Center for Health Research Western Sydney, Australia) will present a paper on A Randomised Controlled Trial of the Loughborough Eating Disorders Activity Therapy (LEAP): A New Approach to Driven Exercise in Anorexia Nervosa, on which Drs. Pike and Attia (Columbia) collaborated.

ABCT

3PM: Drs. Glasofer and Steinglass will be joined by colleagues (Drs. Zakarin and Mattu) from Columbia’s Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders for a workshop on Creatively Adapting Behavioral Approaches for Treating and Feeding and Eating Disorders Cases. This workshop will review research on exposure therapy for anorexia nervosa, habit-based approaches for anorexia nervosa, and behaviorally-informed interventions for rumination disorder and ARFID.

October 29^th

AACAP

8:30AM: Dr. Joanna Steinglass will participate in an AACAP conference symposium speaking on the topic of Linking Brain and Behavior: Neural Mechanisms of Persistent Illness in Anorexia Nervosa.

EDRS

10:45AM: Dr. Evelyn Attia will be participating in the symposium, Beyond RCT’s: How to Make Treatment Research More Impactful for Eating Disorders.  She will present preliminary findings from our group’s recent multi-site medication trial for adults with anorexia nervosa, in a talk titled Who is Willing to Take Olanzapine and Why? An Initial Look at Participants in an Olanzapine vs Placebo Trial for Anorexia Nervosa.

Poster Presentations

October 27^th

EDRS

• Eating Behavior in Bulimia Nervosa. Davis, H, Riegel, M, Herb, K, et al.
• Delay of Gratification of Food Reward by FTO Status. Mielke-Maday, H, Davis, H, McInerney, H, et al.
• Intrinsic Functional Connectivity between the Salience and Default Mode Network in Anorexia Nervosa. Song, I, Cha, J, Foerde, K, et al.

October 28^th

EDRS

• Developing a Clinical Staging Model for Anorexia Nervosa: Evaluating the Roles of Obsessionality and OCPD. Uniacke, B, & Steinglass, J.
• Attachment Style Relates to Experienced Negative Mood and Physiologic Stress: A Preliminary Investigation in Overweight Adolescent Girls with Loss of Control (LOC) Eating. Ranzenhofer, L, Engel, S, Crosby, R, et al.
• Food Choice and Dietary Restriction in Bulimia Nervosa. Gianini, L, Foerde, K, Riegel, M, et al.

November 4^th

THE OBESITY SOCIETY

• Characterizing Eating Behavior of Long-Term Weight Reduced Individuals. Gianini, L, Foerde, K, Steinglass, J, et al.