Faculty

The overarching goal of Dr. Anzman-Frasca’s research is to promote healthy developmental trajectories for all individuals beginning in early life. She is interested in the psychological processes behind individuals’ health behaviors, interactions between these processes and contextual factors, and the interplay between obesity risk and other aspects of well-being, particularly among young children.

Dr. Balantekin’s research focuses on eating behavior of those at the intersection between obesity and eating disorders.

The brain has natural systems responsible for motivating an organism to participate in behaviors that are necessary for survival, such as eating, exercise and reproduction. The Bass laboratory seeks to understand the neurobiology of motivation.   

Research in the Daniels' laboratory focuses on the neural mechanisms that regulate ingestive behaviors such as food, water, and salt intake. 

Dr. Epstein's research interests focus on health behavior change and determinants of eating, physical activity and drug self-administration. He is an internationally recognized authority in the fields of childhood overweight, physical activity, weight control and family intervention.

Dr. Faith's research interests include early childhood education, bullying, social and emotional development, child and adolescent development and school counseling, in addition to design and analysis of longitudinal research, experimental design, quantitative research methods. 

Dr. Leone is community-based researcher with a focus on addressing disparities in cancer and obesity prevention behaviors. Her research involves designing, implementing and evaluating multi-level and community-based interventions to increase access to healthy food and opportunities for physical activity among underserved populations.

Dr. Loney's research is aimed at elucidating the neurophysiological mechanisms that contribute to dysregulated behaviors including drug abuse and nonhomeostatic food consumption. Currently, his work examines how insular dysfunction alters the salience of the reinforcing and aversive stimulus properties of commonly abused substances.

Dr. Medler's lab studies the physiology of signal transduction pathways and the regulation of these pathways in neuronal systems. Her focus is on peripheral sensory systems, primarily the taste system

The overall research goal of the Meyer laboratory is to determine the precise role of the brain’s reward circuitry in appetitive learning and drug addiction, and how motivated behavior is controlled by reward‐associated stimuli (“cues”).

Dr. Mietlicki-Baase's research focuses on the role of the mesolimbic reward system of the brain in energy intake and food preference.

Dr. Temple's research is broadly related to ingestive behavior. She studies factors that influence the motivation to eat and drink, the relationship between food additives (primarily caffeine) and behavior, and individual difference characteristics that predict weight gain in children, adolescents, and adults.

Dr. Thanos is interested in the role of the mesolimbic dopamine circuit in addictive disorders including obesity with a focus on the role of maternal diet, exercise and social environment. He is also interested in gastric bypass surgery and using behavioral imaging with PET to study the effects of food cues on changes in functional brain connectivity.

Dr. Torregrossa's work has been exploring how orosensory and gut feedback contribute to food acceptance and intake, most recently in reference to salivary proteins and bitter foods.

Dr. Wen's work focuses on epidemiologic analyses and human behavioral interventions related to obesity. He is particularly interested in the developmental origins of obesity and cardio-metabolic diseases. He is also interested behavioral intervention (e.g., smoking cessation, breastfeeding promotion) to improve Maternal and Child Health.

Dr. Quattrin’s research is in prevention and treatment of obesity with focus on an early age and on the dissemination of novel programs in the primary care setting. Her expertise in pediatric endocrinology  leads her also to concentrate on auxologic and hormonal abnormalities associated with obesity.