ā€œWe can say, ā€˜this is the symptom that is causing all your other symptoms, and this is what we need to be working on in therapy,ā€™ā€ said lab director and assistant professor, Dr. Cheri Levinson. ā€œThis opens this whole possibility for treatments that are personalized based on the individual.ā€

The team used network analysis, collecting data via a mobile application, to map these connections. For example, Levinson said, one person may develop anorexia nervosa due to fear of weight gain. While for others, the reason could be completely different.

In one study, published in the , the researchers found there may be a connection to social anxiety. A second study, published in the , found a connection between eating disorders and trauma, or PTSD. Ģż

Co-author and doctoral candidate, Irina Vanzhula, said many psychologists already try to personalize treatment plans for each individual patient. Ģż

ā€œBut the issue with that is that they personalize treatment based on their opinion, and their clinical impression,ā€ she said.Ģż

The UofL team wants that personalization to be more objective ā€” based on data, not opinion. Levinson, a practicing licensed psychologist, said that they can help doctors make better decisions and get to the cause of the problem more directly, rather than guessing. Ģż

ā€œBy using this data-driven approach, weā€™re going to be able to say, ā€˜hey, this is where you should start, and this is how you should do it,ā€™ā€ she said.Ģż

The UofL EAT Lab is currently looking for participants for its You can listen to the researchersā€™ full radio interview on .Ģż

A team of experienced reviewers in the field of trauma conducted an on-site review of the hospital in July, and the hospital received word of the re-verification this month in an official letter. The verification process provides confirmation the hospital has demonstrated its commitment to providing optimal care.

ā€œThe re-verification is acknowledgement of all the hard work that happens here at UofL Hospital every day,ā€ said Kim Denzik, MSN, RN, director of the UofL Hospital Trauma Institute. ā€œThere is a tremendous amount of work and preparation that goes into the trauma review. There are a lot of people to be thanked for their continued hard work, diligence and commitment to providing the very best care for our patients.ā€

The re-verification came from the Committee, an ad hoc committee of the groupā€™s .

The Committee on Traumaā€™s verification program does not designate trauma centers, rather it provides confirmation that a trauma center has demonstrated its commitment to providing the highest quality of trauma care. The actual establishment and designation of a trauma center is the function of local, regional or state agencies. However, verified trauma centers must meet essential criteria that ensure trauma care capability and institutional performance as outlined by the Committee on Trauma.

Having the expert level of care here in Louisville is important to patients like Brandon Clark, who was in a dirt bike accident in March 2017 at age 19.

ā€œI was at my girlfriendā€™s house racing my brother when the throttle got stuck and I was thrown 53 feet,ā€ Clark said. He was transported from Floyds Knobs, Indiana, to UofL Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken femur and a separated shoulder. He underwent surgery with an orthopedic specialist at UofL Hospital the next morning.

ā€œIt was very rough in the beginning,ā€ Clark said. ā€œI was just 19, and I couldnā€™t even walk. I left the hospital in a wheelchair. I wanted to give up on life. But nobody there let me give up.ā€

By August 2018, he was walking again at the Kentucky State Fair. It was there he ran into a member of the Trauma Centerā€™s staff, Annabelle Pike.

ā€œI wanted to tell her just how great it felt to be walking again. I wouldnā€™t be here without the staff at UofL Hospital. They work with you a lot. They want to help you out the most,ā€ he said.

He’s now going to the University of Northwestern Ohio to be a diesel mechanic, and driving home on weekends to do farming and construction work from his home in Ballardsville. On Oct. 16, he said he was able to run a mile, just a year and a half after his stay at UofL Hospital.

He said heā€™s appreciative of the second chance he was given. ā€œIt made me realize you can lose your life in the blink of an eye.ā€

There are five separate categories of verification in the Committee on Traumaā€™s program: Level I Trauma Center; Level II Trauma Center; Level III Trauma Center; Level I Pediatric Trauma Center; and Level II Pediatric Trauma Center. Each has specific criteria that must be met. UofL Hospital is one of just two adult Level I Trauma Centers in the state of Kentucky, with the other at the University of Kentuckyā€™s Albert B. Chandler Hospital.