Denise E. Wilfley, PhD
Scott Rudolph University Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, Pediatrics, and Psychological & Brain Sciences – Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
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.
C. Barr Taylor, MD
Professor of Psychiatry – Palo Alto University
Dr. Taylor is a Research Professor and Director of the Center for m²Health at Palo Alto University. Dr. Taylor is Professor of Psychiatry (Emeritus) at Stanford University, where he worked for over 35 years as a Researcher, Educator and Clinician. His work has focused on developing and evaluated cost-effective, often technology based approaches to prevention and treatment of mental health disorders and medical risk factors. Among other accomplishments he has identified risk factors for eating disorders and developed on-line prevention interventions, and more recently he has developed and is evaluated integrated, on-line programs to both prevent and treat eating and anxiety disorders. He has had continuous funding from NIH and other granting agencies for nearly forty years. He was in charge of the quality assurance program for the VA’s training program to train clinicians in CBT, for depression and insomnia and ACT for depression. Through this work, he has helped train over 2000 clinicians. He is one of the chief scientific advisors for eCare, a large international collaboration based in Europe to evaluate on-line interventions for a number of problems and he also collaborates with many investigators in the US and Internationally. He has published over 340 scientific articles and 11 professional books.
Daniel Eisenberg, PhD
Professor of Health Policy and Management – University of California, Los Angeles
Daniel Eisenberg is a Professor of Health Policy and Management in Fielding School of Public Health at UCLA. His broad research goal is to improve understanding of how to invest effectively in the mental health of young people. He directs the Healthy Minds Network (HMN) for Research on Adolescent and Young Adult Mental Health (www.healthymindsnetwork.org). This research network administers the Healthy Minds Study, a national survey study of student mental health and related factors, and facilitates the development, testing, and dissemination of innovative programs and interventions for student mental health. He is currently writing a book about investments in children’s mental health, in collaboration with Ramesh Raghavan.
Michelle Newman, PhD
Professor of Psychology – Pennsylvania State University
Dr. Michelle Newman’s research focuses on the nature and treatment of anxiety disorders. Dr. Newman is examining the etiology and classification, individual predictors of psychotherapy outcome, and impact of brief psychotherapy with respect to social phobia, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and trauma. Dr. Newman is also conducting several basic experimental studies examining underlying processes related to these disorders. Further, she is examining issues relevant to health implications of anxiety disorders. Current research projects include an integrative therapy for GAD (examining the addition of interpersonal and experiential therapies to cognitive behavioral therapy); evaluation of brief individual and self-help palmtop computer-assisted cognitive behavioral therapy for panic disorder, GAD, and Social phobia; assessment and classification of generalized and specific social phobia, panic disorder, and GAD; examination of the impact of psychotherapy beyond the targeted symptoms of a particular disorder; improving psychotherapeutic interventions for anxiety disorders; emotion regulation in anxiety disorders and it’s relationship to therapeutic mechanisms; dysfunctional interpersonal styles in persons with GAD and social phobia.