Eating disorders affect an estimated 9% of Americans — nearly 30 million people — and can impact a person’s eating behaviors and perceptions about food and their bodies. The UofL prototype technology, dubbed Awaken Emerse, helps users virtually face and overcome their associated fears, such as the fear of gaining weight.

“Research shows exposure treatment can be really effective in taking back control over these devastating and life-altering fears,” said Christina Ralph-Nearman, a assistant research professor, researcher and co-inventor of the technology. “Our virtual simulation allows people to do that in a safe way.”Ìę

In a pilot study, Awaken Emerse — invented by Ralph-Nearman and researcher Cheri Levinson — was shown to be effective in helping participants face their fears of gaining weight. The new grant, $125,000 through the NEDA’s Feeding Hope Fund, will support work by the inventors, along with Andrew Karem of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, to expand the platform to be more inclusive of all body types and sizes, ethnicities, races and gender identities and to further test outcomes in a clinical setting.ÌęÌę

“Eating disorders don’t just affect one type of person — there are a multitude of factors that can influence them,” said Levinson, associate professor and director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Lab. “Treatment and prevention options should reflect that full range of experience.”

The NEDA grant comes on the heels of some $11.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support Levinson’s work to better understand and address some of the most devastating effects of eating disorders. That research will investigate how eating disorders may develop in childhood and adolescence, their contribution to suicidal behaviors and how innovative personalized treatments, like VR simulation, may offer hope.

“Despite the high prevalence of eating disorders, there still aren’t many options for treatment and prevention,” she said. “This work will not only create new options by leveraging technology, but open previously unopened doors for treating people on a personal, individual level.”

Work to develop the VR technology has also been supported by the UofL Office of Research and Innovation’s intellectual property and new ventures teams. This includes patenting, coaching by entrepreneur-in-residence Alice Shade, and training and financial support through two innovation development programs: KYNETIC, focused on furthering biomedical technologies, and PRePARE, focused on technologies that address a health or societal problem resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Eating disorders affect an estimated 9% of Americans — nearly 30 million people — and can impact a person’s eating behaviors and perceptions about food and their bodies. The UofL research, backed by three grants, will investigate how eating disorders may develop in childhood and adolescence, their contribution to suicidal behaviors and how innovative personalized treatment may offer hope.

“UofL has made a longstanding commitment to groundbreaking research and discovery that makes a positive impact on our world,” said President Kim Schatzel. “This is research that can save and improve the lives of millions of Americans and many, many more around the world impacted by eating disorders.”

The work is led by researcher Cheri Levinson, who specializes in the study and intervention of eating and anxiety disorders. The key, she said, is a personalized approach to diagnosis and treatment, recognizing that these disorders affect people of all different ages, ethnicities, gender identities and backgrounds, and individualizing treatment to each specific person.

“Despite the high prevalence of these conditions, there are few available treatment and prevention options,” said Levinson, an associate professor in the UofL College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Lab. “This work not only will create options, but opens this whole possibility for treatments that are personalized based on the individual. Because eating disorders don’t just affect one kind of person and there are a multitude of different factors that can influence them.”

Through an NIH research project grant totaling nearly $4 million, Levinson’s team will study how eating disorders develop in childhood and beyond, with the hope their findings can help avert the large personal and societal costs associated with childhood onset and chronic disorders. Recent show more than one in five kids worldwide may show signs of disordered eating.

A second project grant, also nearly $4 million, will identify patterns of anorexia nervosa — an eating disorder characterized by a fear of gaining weight — that contribute to suicide risk, with data providing a model of personalized psychiatric medicine and new methods of prevention and treatment.ÌęCurrently, patients with anorexia have a suicide risk 18 times higher than those without an eating disorder.

The third grant, a prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, also worth nearly $4 million across two phases, will further the creation and dissemination of a novel personalized treatment for eating disorders and integrate social determinants of health (food insecurity, racism) into treatment. The New Innovator Award, part of NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, supports unusually innovative research from early-career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency. Levinson is the first from UofL and the first studying eating disorders to receive this award.

“Our mission at the College of Arts and Sciences is to improve life in the Commonwealth, including by creating new knowledge through groundbreaking research and innovation,” said Dayna Touron, the college’s dean. “Dr. Levinson’s work will undoubtedly improve the lives of millions living with eating disorders, and we are very proud to count her among our faculty.”

These grants are the culmination of years of groundbreaking work by Levinson and her team, for which they earned a UofL Trailblazer Award in early 2023. The research has also received support through UofL’s Office of Research and Innovation, including mentoring through the Ascending Stars Fellows Program for promising mid-career faculty.Ìę

Work to develop a companion personalized treatment application and virtual reality technology has also been supported by the office’s Innovation and Commercialization and UofL New Ventures teams. This includes patenting, entrepreneurial coaching and training and financial support through two innovation development programs: KYNETIC, focused on furthering biomedical technologies, and PRePARE, focused on technologies that address a health or societal problem resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“UofL has built a strong and vibrant ecosystem and supports for important research like this, that can improve and save lives,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “We’re so proud of the work Dr. Levinson and her team are doing and the positive impacts it will have across the U.S. and the globe.”

KYNETIC is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) and part of the national NIH Proof-of-Concept Network. The program offers entrepreneurial education and proof-of-concept/product development grants to accelerate the translation of research innovations into biomedical products by investigators throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky.Ìę Ìę

The goal is to advance the most promising biomedical research innovations — including pharmaceuticals, devices and apps — from the state’s eight public universities and the Kentucky Community & Technical College System (KCTCS).

In this cycle, KYNETIC awarded roughly $40,000 grants to each of the following research teams:

• Christina Ralph-Nearman and Cheri Levinson, University of Louisville
• Melissa Smith and Corey Watson, University of Louisville
• Stuart Williams, Maxwell Boakye and Michael Voor, University of Louisville
• Daniel Boamah, Kimberly Greene and Austin Griffiths, Western Kentucky University
• Jamie Fredericks, Eastern Kentucky University
• Mark Fritz and Guigen Zhang, University of KentuckyÌę
• Jill Kolesar and Chris Richards, University of Kentucky
• Brittany Levy, University of Kentucky

KYNETIC is led by UofL, the University of Kentucky, the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and Kentucky Commercialization Ventures. Launched in 2019, the KYNETIC program builds on UofL’s strong history of translational research support, which includes a prestigious for turning research into products.

“These programs help to drive UofL research from lab to market – impactful research with the power to improve and even save lives,” said Jessica Sharon, UofL’s director of innovation programs who helps lead KYNETIC. “The UofL projects selected for KYNETIC funding in this cycle embody that goal.”

The pre-application window for KYNETIC’s Cycle 8 is currently open. The deadline is July 18, 2023, by 5 p.m. Pre-applications can beÌę.

KYNETIC Project Managers are available for consultation before you submit your pre-application and throughout the application process. You can find more informationÌę.

The event, hosted by the , honored UofL faculty and staff nominated by their colleagues or self-nominated for outstanding research and scholarship accomplishments in fiscal year 2021.

“I often say that UofL is a true research engine, continuously blazing new trails and seeking answers to important questions,” said Interim President Lori Stewart Gonzalez, speaking at the event. “Our researchers, scholars and research administrators are the very backbone of that work and they deserve this celebration and recognition.”Ìę

In addition to the roughly 90 recognized, six major awards were presented to:Ìę

• • Kenneth Palmer, of the School of Medicine, who won Researcher of the Year, in part, for work to address the global COVID-19 pandemic, securing $8.5 million from the Department of Defense to adapt a novel broad-spectrum antiviral as a coronovirus-fighting nasal spray;
  • Hui Wang, of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, who won Emerging Researcher of the Year for work to advance solid ion conductors and electrochemical energy storage;Ìę
  • Becky Antle, of the Kent School of Social Work, who won Collaborator of the Year for serving as an evaluator on numerous groundbreaking projects with principal investigators across the university;
  • Monica Wendel, of the School of Public Health and Information Sciences, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Empowering our Communities in part for work to launch a new Health Equity Innovation Hub at UofL, backed by Humana Inc. and the Humana Foundation;
  • Shirish Barve, of the School of Medicine, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Advancing our Health for work to uncover the connections and impacts of alcohol on the body and organ injury and studying the gut/brain axis in HIV and aging; and
  • Joshua Spurgeon, of the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, who won the Grand Challenger Award in Engineering our Future Economy for work to create clean fuels using just water, carbon dioxide and sunlight, paving the way for more low-carbon power.

In addition to presenting awards, the event also highlighted the Office of Research and Innovation’s recently launched Ascending Star Fellowship program, which provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The inaugural class includes Cheri Levinson, Brandon McCormack and Kaila Story, all from the College of Arts and Sciences.Ìę

Kevin Gardner, UofL’s Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation, said his office launched this inaugural awards event to recognize faculty and staff for their contributions to UofL’s research and scholarship.Ìę

In the past fiscal year, their work helped bring in record $201.5 million to support groundbreaking work that saves and improves lives and shapes our society and culture.ÌęAnd, UofL recently received another consecutive Research-1 designation from the , placing it among just 4% of schools considered.Ìę

“What we celebrate and recognize reflects our values as an organization and as a community of scholars,” Gardner said. “Each researcher, scholar and administrator being celebrated is absolutely critical to our important work here at UofL, and we want you to know your efforts are appreciated.”

The new Ascending Star Fellowship provides mentorship, funding and other support to high-performing associate professors. The goal is to boost the national impact of the fellows’ scholarship, with a heavy focus on work in diversity, inclusion and community empowerment.

The UofL Office of Research and Innovation launched the program this year and partnered with the to select the inaugural class, which includes:

• Cheri Levinson, director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Laboratory within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and founder of the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders;Ìę
• Brandon McCormack, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Pan-African Studies with a joint appointment in Comparative Humanities; and
• Kaila Story, Audre Lorde endowed chair in race, gender, class and sexuality studies with joint faculty appointments in Departments of Pan-African Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies.Ìę

Levinson’s work focuses on diagnosing, understanding and treating eating disorders and anxiety disorders. McCormack’s focus is on the intersections of Black religion and cultural studies, including the hip-hop generation. And lastly, Story’s work focuses on the intersections of race and sexuality, with special attention to Black feminism, Black lesbians and Black queer identity.

“These fellows are already stars — their outstanding work speaks for itself,” said M. Cynthia Logsdon, the Office of Research and Innovation’s director of research academic programs, who leads the fellowship program. “With this support, we want to help them shine even brighter, advancing their scholarship, magnifying their national recognition and extending the impact of their work.”

In addition to other supports, the and UofL’s , aimed at improving equity for female STEM faculty, will provide educational and enrichment activities geared toward advancement of diverse communities and populations. Ìę

To be considered for the program, faculty must be associate professor rank, must be nominated by their unit and must show a “consistent record of scholarship with the passion and desire to achieve greater national recognition.”

The UofL clinical psychologist worked for the successful passage last month of Senate Bill 82, which Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear signed into law March 27.

Levinson testified before a joint legislative committee and helped others advocating for the council, believing it will help ensure attention and services are brought to Kentuckians often hidden in their suffering from what she described as “a silent epidemic.”

“It was pretty amazing,” Levinson said. “The senators and representatives were very supportive. You could tell the people there cared.”

All sorts of people – young, old and from all walks of life — have some sort of eating disorder, which can be anorexia, bulimia, binge eating or other feeding disorders. And while the public might consider those physical problems, the truth is they often are rooted in emotional issues and anxiety – and are preventable and treatable.

, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences, also is founding director of UofL’s . There she and graduate students help serve clients, also through UofL’s Noble Kelley Psychological Services Center, and they research better, novel ways to support them,

For example, the laboratory group is piloting a tailored approach that uses a smartphone app to deliver a personalized treatment. There also are support groups and other treatment studies, all currently offered online, particularly during the coronavirus-related adjustments.

Levinson also is clinical director for a private practice, Louisville Center for Eating Disorders, which will have a role in the new council’s initial makeup. The center will suggest as members some names of people who have eating disorders or those with experience working with them to ensure they have a voice in the council’s work.

The attaches the council to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which will have representatives on it. Others on the 19-member body include representatives from insurance, health care, social work, education and dietetics. “Getting all of those important people together in the room – just to get all those people together is a big deal,” she said.

The council would help oversee eating disorder awareness, education and prevention programs; identify strategies to improve access to diagnostic and treatment programs; help the cabinet identify research projects; collaborate on data-based research; recommend legislative or regulatory changes; and apply for grant funding.

“The ultimate charge of the bill is to create more and better treatment,” Levinson said. Beyond UofL and her private clinic, Levinson said Kentucky doesn’t offer much in the way of comprehensive treatment for eating disorders, and many people with disorders who require more intensive treatment have to travel as far as to Missouri, the first state to offer an eating disorders council.

However, Levinson believes that higher awareness and better training in communities might help people screen for and recognize the early warning signs so they can intervene before the disorders develop.

“Anxiety is ‘the’ predisposing factor for an eating disorder,” she said.

Levinson cited studies that indicated 50% of students in middle school say they are on a diet to lose weight and that 50% of middle and high school students report some type of eating disorder behavior.

“Eating disorders are treatable,” she said. With early prevention, proper care and family support, people can conquer the illnesses that otherwise could lead to an array of other health problems.

“You can recover, and people don’t have to live with this for the rest of their lives,” she said.

The College of Arts and Sciences and the Liberal Studies Project host the monthly Meet the Professor series to highlight the college’s research and cultural offerings.

ThisÌęsemester’sÌętalks are:

Sept. 7:Ìę“Attending to What Remains: Public Memory at Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery,” Stephen Schneider, English associate professor. He will discuss the cemetery’s memorial landscape that has become a museum of municipal history dedicated to notables ranging from Louisville’s first mayor to Muhammad Ali.

ÌęOct. 5:Ìę“Pipe Politics, Contested Waters: Embedded Infrastructures of Millennial Mumbai,” Lisa Bjorkman, urban and public affairs assistant professor. She will talk about the deterioration of the Indian city’s water-delivery system despite economic growth and development and its social, political and hydraulic effects.

Nov. 2:Ìę“How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog,” Lee Dugatkin, biology professor. Drawing on his 2017 book title, the science historian will share the story of lead scientist Lyudmila Trut and a research team in Siberia that for six decades has been domesticating silver foxes to replay the evolution of dogs in real time.

Dec. 7:Ìę“Using Technology to Develop Novel Treatments for Eating Disorders,” Cheri Levinson, psychological and brain sciences assistant professor. The director of UofL’s new Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) laboratory and clinic will talk about the deadliest of mental illnesses and discuss her ongoing research to develop novel interventions to treat the disorders.

The Thursday luncheon talks begin at noon in the University Club. Reservations are required, with $15 payment by check. To reserve a spot, contact Janna Tajibaeva via email or 502-852-2247 no later than the Monday before each event.

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