Eating Disorder Research Program
EDCare participates actively in important leading medical research on eating disorders, with our Executive Clinical Director, Dr. Tamara Pryor, also serving as Director of Clinical Research. We collaborate closely with Dr. Guido Frank, Associate Director of the Eating Disorders Program and Director of the Developmental Brain Research Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Dr. Frank researches the biology and behavior of adolescents and adults with eating disorders. In just the past few years since he began collaborating with EDCare, he has published over 30 articles on the topic in peer-reviewed journals – many of them co-authored by Dr. Pryor, and including patients participating from EDCare.
The Know Your Client/Know Your Patient Project
The Know Your Client/Know Your Patient project is a free, easy to use platform for clinicians. Its purpose is to provide data helpful in developing specific and effective individualized treatment plans based on the patient’s needs. The platform is a collection of standardized questionnaires used as assessment tools, providing an immediate score to aid in the treatment planning process. Click Here to learn more.
“It is OK to doubt what you have been taught to believe.”
Developmental Brain Research Focused on Eating Disorders
Anorexia (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) are severe psychiatric disorders that most commonly begin during adolescence – which is a critical period of significant change in both biological and psychosocial development. Neurobiological and genetic factors have only recently been recognized as contributing to the development of AN and BN, in addition to well-known psychological and environmental factors. This new understanding of the etiology of eating disorders (ED) lays the foundation for a developmental neuroscience perspective in ED research.
“Brain imaging provides a window into the living human brain and may help us understand mechanisms that cause eating disorders. Only if we know how the brain works differently in eating disorders then we can work to improve treatment and make recovery more successful.” Guido Frank, MD., FAED
Current Eating Disorder Research at EDCare
Dr. Frank is conducting a study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, in females ages 16 to 29 years. They are admitted into EDCare’s Partial Hospitalization Program as well as the Eating Disorders Program at Children’s Hospital Colorado. This study allows for any diagnosis of an eating disorder as well as co-morbid anxiety or depression and most medication use. Over five years, the study will recruit 300 females with eating disorders and 100 healthy comparison control individuals.
Interested eligible patients will meet with Dr. Frank and his research team to review consent forms and study procedures. These include a diagnostic assessment, a questionnaire about mood, eating behaviors, and personality traits, and a special magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. In addition to brain structure, the MRI will record reactions to patients tasting sweet and neutral stimuli during imaging.
Here are some selected abstracts of publications, with links to their full text:
The Journal of the American Medical Association – Psychiatry (2021)
Association of Brain Reward Response With Body Mass Index and Ventral Striatal-Hypothalamic Circuitry Among Young Women With Eating Disorders. Guido K.W. Frank, MD; Megan E. Shott, BS; Joel Stoddard, MD; Skylar Swindle, BS; Tamara L. Pryor, PhD.
Click here to read the article
Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (2021)
Persistence, Reward Dependence, and Sensitivity to Reward Are Associated With Unexpected Salience Response in Girls but Not in Adult Women: Implications for Psychiatric Vulnerabilities. Guido K.W. Frank, Megan E. Shott, Lot C. Sternheim, Skylar Swindle, and Tamara L. Pryor.
Click here to read the article
The Journal of the American Medical Association – Psychiatry (2018)
Association of Brain Reward Learning Response with Harm Avoidance, Weight Gain, and Hypothalamic Effective Connectivity in Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa. Guido Frank, Marisa DeGuzman, Megan Shott, Mark Laudenslager, Brogan Rossi, Tamara Pryor
Click here to read the article
Transitional Psychology (2016)
Altered Structural and Effective Connectivity in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa in Circuits that Regulate Energy and Reward Homeostasis. Guido Frank, Megan Shott, Justin Riederer, Tamara Pryor
Click here to read the article
CNS Drugs: Drug Therapy in Neurobiology and Psychiatry (Springer, 2016)
The Role of Psychotropic Medications in the Management of Anorexia Nervosa: Rationale, Evidence and Future Prospects. Guido K. W. Frank & Megan E. Shott
Click here to read the article
Journal of International Psychiatry (2016)
Extremes of Eating are Associated with Reduced Neural Taste Discrimination. Guido K.W. Frank, Megan E. Shott, Carrie Keffler, & Marc-Andre Cornier
Click here to read the article
Neuropsychopharmacology (2015)
Greater Insula White Matter Fiber Connectivity in Women Recovered from Anorexia Nervosa. Megan E. Shott, Tamara L. Pryor, Tony T. Yang, and Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
International Journal of Obesity (2014)
Orbitofrontal Cortex Volume and Brain Reward Response in Obesity. M.E. Shott, M.A. Cornier, V.A. Mittal, T.L. Pryor, M.S. Brown and Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
American Journal of Psychiatry (2013)
Alterations in Brain Structures Related to Taste Reward Circuitry in Ill and Recovered Anorexia Nervosa and in Bulimia Nervosa. Guido K. Frank, Megan E. Shott, Jennifer O. Hagman & Vijay A. Mittal
Click here to read the article
Current Psychiatry Report (2013)
Altered Brain Reward Circuits in Eating Disorders: Chicken or Egg? Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
International Journal of Eating Disorders (2013)
White Matter Integrity is Reduced in Bulimia Nervosa. Lisa N. Mettler, Megan E. Shott, Tamara Pryor, Tony T. Yang & Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
Neuropharmacology (2012)
Anorexia Nervosa and Obesity are Associated with Opposite Brain Reward Response. Guido K.W. Frank, Jeremy R. Reynolds, Megan E. Shott, Leah Jappe, Tony T. Yang, Jason R. Tregellas, & Randall C. O’Reilly
Click here to read the article
Wiley Online Library (2012)
Cognitive Set-Shifting in Anorexia Nervosa. Megan E. Shott, J. Vincent Filoteo, Kelly A.C. Bhatnagar, Nicole J. Peak, Jennifer O. Hagman, Roxanne Rockwell, Walter H. Kaye & Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
Neuropsycology (2012)
Altered Implicit Category Learning in Anorexia Nervosa. Megan E. Shott, J. Vincent Filoteo, Leah M. Jappe, Tamara Pryor, W. Todd Maddox, Michael D. H. Rollin, Jennifer O. Hagman, & Guido K. W. Frank
Click here to read the article
Journal of Biological Psychiatry (2011)
Altered Temporal Difference Learning in Bulimia Nervosa. Guido K.W. Frank, Jeremy R. Reynolds, Megan E. Shott, and Randall C. O’Reilly
Click here to read the article
International Journal of Eating Disorders (2011)
Heightened Fear of Uncertainty in Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa. Guido K.W. Frank, Tami Roblek, Megan E. Shott, Leah M. Jappe, Michael D.H. Rollin, Jennifer O. Hagman, Tamara Pryor
Click here to read the article
Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging (2011)
Altered Fimbria-Fornix White Matter Integrity in Anorexia Nervosa Predicts Harm Avoidance. Demitry Kazlouski, Michael D.H. Rollin, Jason Tregellas, Megan E. Shott, Leah M. Jappe, Jennifer O. Hagman, Tamara Pryor, Tony T. Yang, Guido K.W. Frank
Click here to read the article
International Journal of Eating Disorders (2011)
Heightened Sensitivity to Reward and Punishment in Anorexia Nervosa. Leah M. Jappe, Guido K.W. Frank, Megan E. Shott, Michael D.H. Rollin, Tamara Pryor, Jennifer O. Hagman, Tony T. Yang, Elizabeth Davis
Click here to read the article
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Our Eating Disorder Research Team
Guido K.W. Frank, MD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Associate Medical Director, Eating Disorders Program, Children’s Hospital Colorado; Director, Developmental Brain Research Program.
Tamara L. Pryor, PhD, FAED
Executive Clinical Director and Director of Clinical Research, EDCare
Megan E. Shott, BS
Senior Professional Research Assistant, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Brogan Rossi, BS
Professional Research Assistant, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
