Denise E. Wilfley, PhD
Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences
wilfleyd@wustl.edu
Denise Wilfley, PhD, is the Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences and the director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Since 1993, she has been awarded more than $30 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in a programmatic line of research examining the etiology, prevention, and treatment of obesity and eating disorders in children and adults. Her research program has made substantial contributions to this field, including the classification, characterization, assessment, and risk factors of eating and weight-related disorders; the development of effective treatments for individuals suffering from such disorders; and the development of innovative and cost-effective methods for early intervention and prevention of eating- and weight-related disorders. Through her numerous NIH-funded clinical trials, she has demonstrated an extensive and successful track record in directing clinical research programs and in mentoring and training the future generation of clinical researchers. Wilfley has received numerous research awards, including an NIH FIRST Independent Research Award and a K24 Mid-Career Investigator award. She also holds leadership roles in numerous professional communities, which allows her to spearhead national and international conversations to advance cutting-edge science and advocacy on obesity and eating disorders.
Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
fitzsimmonse@wustl.edu
Ellen Fitzsimmons-Craft, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and a licensed psychologist and certified Health Service Provider in the state of Missouri. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed her predoctoral internship at The University of Chicago Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine. Fitzsimmons-Craft’s primary research interests involve the etiology and maintenance of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating, with particular interest in the influence of sociocultural factors on such pathology (e.g., social comparison). She is especially intrigued by the high rates of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating found in certain vulnerable groups (e.g., college women) and factors that may contribute to this. Fitzsimmons-Craft is also interested in eating disorder recovery and the evidence-based prevention and treatment of eating disorders and obesity, including the use of technology for intervention delivery. Her work aims to disseminate evidence-based interventions for eating disorders from research to practice as well as extend treatments in ways that will reach the large number of people in need of care for eating disorders but who are not receiving services.
Patricia Cavazos-Rehg, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Cavazos-Rehg has worked to disentangle the pathways of complex adolescent health risk problems. She focuses her research on examining the effects of state-level penalties and anti-tobacco/drug media campaigns on youth substance use behaviors and attitudes. In recent years, Dr. Cavazos-Rehg has led large-scale studies to delineate predictors of youth substance use involvement while accounting for today’s new media-saturated environment.