Picture Blurrfect

Dr. Xu of Baylor College of Medicine joins the podcast to share his latest work on how a particular brain circuit contributes to anorexia nervosa, the psychiatric disease characterized by fear of gaining weight and severe food restriction. Dr. Xu explains how dopamine and serotonin neurons in the brain regulate feeding behavior and often communicate with each other. Importantly, new research from...

Naomi chats with Dr. Kyle Ganson from the University of Toronto about his research on eating disorders in men--why it is under researched and not talked about enough. Additionally, Dr. Ganson shares his research on muscle-enhancing / muscularity-oriented behaviors in the male population by sharing the risk factors and potential treatments. Like with all eating disorders and disordered eating behav...

Naomi chats with Dr. Blair Burnette of the University of Minnesota about her research on intuitive eating  and how this framework could be incorporated into treatment/recovery plans for eating disorders and disordered eating. While most people drill this concept down to "eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full," Dr. Burnette explains the nuance and complexities associated...

Back-to-back graduate student spotlights! Naomi chats with the fabulous Katie Thompson, clinical psychology PhD student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill about body image concerns beyond the teenage years--midlife, postpartum, menopause, and more. Along these lines, Naomi and Katie also discuss how much our culture pressures us to not allow our bodies to change. There's a major...

Graduate student spotlight! Naomi chats with soon-to-be Dr. Shruti Kinkel-Ram (@shrutikinkelram) of Miami University all about her research, including her Master's thesis on the connection between obsessive compulsive disorder and eating disorders as well as her current work on examining the relationship between interception and weight stigma. Naomi and Shruti also discuss life in graduate sc...

Picture Blurrfect tackles yet another eating disorder myth: that these diseases occur only in young people. Dr. Lisa Kilpela of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio joins the show to share how she studies eating disorder pathologies and body image in older women, what she and her team have found thus far, and how this research can inform future treatment strategies. Join Na...

Dr. Laura Berner of Ichan School of Medicine at Mount Sinai joins Picture Blurrfect to share her research that investigates the neurobiological mechanisms underlying bulimia nervosa. Tune in to learn about which parts of the brain are most involved when individuals feel a "loss of control" and how this research can inform future pharmacological and therapeutic interventions. Paper refere...

Dr. Carolyn Becker of Trinity University joins Picture Blurrfect to discuss her research on how  food insecurity -- people living without reliable access to food -- influences the development of eating disorders. As food insecurity worsens, the level of eating disorder pathology increases. Dr. Becker's work challenges what we think we know about eating disorders and can not only help inform f...

Naomi chats with Dr. Bryn Austin of Harvard Chan School of Public Health about the importance of advocacy for eating disorders at the state and federal level. Dr. Austin is the Founding Director of the Strategic Training Initiative for the Preventing of Eating Disorders (STRIPED) where she and her colleagues help train the next generation in eating disorder prevention. In this episode, Dr. Austin...

Grad Student Spotlight! Maddy Palermo (@maddy_palermo), PhD Candidate at University of South Florida, chats with Naomi about her research on over-exercising and disordered eating particularly within first year college students. What exactly is exercise identity and weight bias? More importantly, as more data are collected on these complex topics, Maddy shares how this research can benefit clinicia...

While hospitalization and death rates for those diagnosed with COVID-19 has dominated the news headlines over the last two years, Naomi pulls back the curtain with Dr. Kelly Allison of the University of Pennsylvania to discuss how the global pandemic has also negatively impacted those with eating disorders. The data, unfortunately, is alarming. But what the data tells us can help clinicians, thera...

Eating disorders share numerous characteristics with anxiety disorders, but exactly how can this be measured and used to inform treatments in the clinical setting? Naomi chats with Dr. Erin Reilly of University of California San Francisco on her research exploring the relationship between anxiety and eating disorders/disordered eating. Dr. Reilly also shares a recent paper her lab published on how...

Naomi chats with Dr. Waller of the University of Sheffield about the various types of behavioral interventions used to treat eating disorders. From cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to exposure therapy to family based therapy, each of these methods plays a critical role in eating disorder recovery. More importantly, Dr. Waller reflects on the challenges that clinicians face during therapy and str...

Welcome to Season 2! Naomi welcomes listeners back to a brand new season, offering encouragement to listeners who may be feeling triggered from all the weight-loss New Years resolutions. Later, Naomi chats with Dr. Burton Murray of Massachusetts General Hospital about the relationship between eating disorders and gastrointestinal problems, including gut-brain interaction disorders.  To read more a...

In the season finale, Naomi talks with Dr. Drew Anderson of University of Albany about his work with eating disorders patients and how we can better discuss, research, and develop treatment strategies. Topics that Drew and Naomi chat about include compulsive exercise among eating disorder patients, body-checking and mirror exposure therapy, and ways we can discuss both obesity and eating disorders...

Naomi chats with Cara Lisette, mental health campaigner in the UK about her recovery story for both anorexia and bipolar disorder.  While more research is needed, studies suggest that the comorbidity of these two diseases ranges from 0.6 to 33.3 percent.  Naomi and Cara talk about the awful comparison game that the eating disorder tries to play with our minds, how COVID-19 complicated recovery for...

Naomi chats with Dr. Sarah Fischer of George Mason University about her ongoing research with neuro-imaging to study the way acute stress impacts overall eating behavior, and how this differs in those with and without eating disorders.  Follow Picture Blurrfect on social media! Twitter: @Blurrfect Instagram: @picture_blurrfect  E-mail Naomi: naomi.charalambakis@gmail.com 

Naomi welcomes listeners back to the podcast after a few weeks hiatus by sharing stories and insights from her recent vacation to Iceland and Greece. Navigating life outside our "regular routines" can be difficult, especially with an eating disorder that tries to dictate our every move. For the host, in several instances there was growth on this trip. But on various other levels, the eat...

Psychiatrist Guido Frank, MD, joins Picture Blurrfect to discuss his lab's most recent paper in JAMA Psychiatry that sheds light on how eating disorder behavior can activate different circuits in the brain that control food intake. Naomi and Dr. Frank also talk about the importance of treating depression and anxiety concurrently with eating disorder behavior during treatment and recovery.  Re...

Dr. Rachel Goode of UNC Chapel Hill joins Picture Blurrfect to discuss her research that addresses the racial and socioeconomic disparities in eating disorder treatment, particularly among Black women with binge eating disorder. What do we know so far and what are the existing knowledge gaps that still need to be addressed?  In the episode, Dr. Goode emphasizes that if you don't know where to...

Naomi talks with Dr. April Smith, Director of the Research on Eating Disorders and Suicide (REDS) Lab at Auburn University about her ongoing research into suicidal thoughts and behaviors among those with eating disorders and/or disordered eating. Dr. Smith discusses interoceptive deficits among these individuals, how technology could facilitate treatment, as well as her research on the rates of su...

Naomi talks with Dr. Cheri Levinson, Associate Professor and Director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment Lab at the University of Louisville about how eating disorders are becoming more prevalent in young adolescents as research funding for eating disorders continues to dwindle.  Follow Dr. Levinson and her lab on social media: Twitter: @CheriLev ; @uofleatlab Instagram: @uofleatlab  The EAT Lab is c...

Naomi talks with Jason Wood, a survivor of orthorexia who shares his story to raise awareness about this lesser-known eating disorder. More importantly, Jason uses his message to encourage others--especially men--to speak up and help break down the stigma surrounding eating disorders.  Follow Jason on social media and check out his website www.orthorexiabites.com. His new book, Starving for Surviv...

In this episode, Naomi talks with PhD Candidate Laura McGeown of Lakehead University to discuss the problems associated with calorie labels on restaurant menus. According to the evidence, this practice is not only ineffective but causes more harm for those suffering from mental health diseases including eating disorders. In order to implement evidence-based and effective policies, we must understa...

Naomi chats with Hope Virgo, multi-award winning author, speaker, and advocate for eating disorders in the UK about her previous struggle with anorexia, and how she's using her story to make waves around the world. Naomi and Hope talk about a wide-range of issues including triggers, exercise obsession, and her leadership with the "Dump the Scales" campaign, an initiative that calls...