About Us

James Lock, MD, PhD (he, him, his)
Dr. Lock is a Professor of Child Psychiatry and Pediatrics in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine where he also serves as Director of the Eating Disorder Program for Children and Adolescents. Dr Lock has published over 200 articles, abstracts, and book chapters. He is the co-author of Treatment Manual for Anorexia Nervosa: A Family-Based Approach, Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder and Treating Bulimia in Adolescents: A Family-Based Approach. He has lectured widely in the US, Canada, South America, Europe, and Australia. He has been funded by the NIH to conduct treatment research in eating disorders continuously since 1997. Click on Dr. Lock's name above to view his faculty bio and a list of representative publications.

Sarah Adler, PsyD
Dr. Adler is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center. Dr. Adler completed her doctorate at the Stanford-PGSP Consortium, and her post-doctoral fellowship at the Stanford Department of Psychiatry. She is currently an attending Psychologist in the Eating Disorder and Weight Control Clinic and specializes in both research and clinical care for patients with disordered eating behaviors. Dr. Adler is passionate about the intersection between behavioral health and technology to increase access to care. Dr. Adler is the Author of The DBT Solution for Binge and Emotional Eating, which was originally written and tested for her doctoral dissertation. Dr. Adler currently teaches and supervises students and post-doctoral fellows in evidence-based treatments.

Cara Bohon, PhD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Bohon received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Oregon. She completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral research fellowship in child and adolescent psychology at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and UCLA. She joined Stanford’s faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in 2012 and currently serves as Director of the Child and Adolescent Outpatient Eating Disorders Clinic. Additionally, she leads the Eating Disorder Research Program’s neuroscience studies. Her research bridges real-world patient experience with biology, and she is passionate about translational work that will improve mental health interventions and access to care. Dr. Bohon was awarded the Early Career Investigator Award from the Academy of Eating Disorders in 2012, and she has received grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, NARSAD Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Stanford Child Health Research Institute, Stanford Center for Cognitive and Neurobiological Imaging, the Hilda and Preston Davis Foundation, and the Friends of Semel Institute. Her work on the neurobiology of unhealthy eating behaviors, including obesity, binge eating, and anorexia nervosa, has been widely published in top-tier peer-reviewed journals, such as Science and Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Danielle Colborn, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Danielle Colborn is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Eating Disorder Program. She received her doctorate from California School of Professional Psychology, and did her post-doctoral fellowship through the Stanford School of Medicine Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Eating Disorder Clinic.  Dr. Colborn has conducted research on interpersonal relationship processes in females with anorexia nervosa, neuropsychological functioning and weight restoration in adolescents with anorexia nervosa, and treatment outcomes for Family-Based Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for adolescents with bulimia and anorexia nervosa. In addition to research Dr. Colborn is a certified FBT supervisor and enjoys teaching and clinical work in the area of adolescent eating disorders.

Jennifer Derenne, MD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Derenne is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and completed an internal medicine internship at Salem Hospital. She went on to pursue General Psychiatry residency and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship training at Harvard Medical School's Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital Program. She has expertise in treating anxiety, depression, and eating disorders across the lifespan, with particular interest in treating college age students. In addition to her clinical practice, she is active in medical education and serves on the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry College Mental Health Committee. She is currently the Psychiatric Director of the Comprehensive Care Unit for Eating Disorders at Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford.

Kristene Hossepian, PsyD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Kristene Hossepian is a Clinical Instructor at Stanford's Inpatient Comprehensive Care Program. She earned her doctorate from the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium and completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford/Children’s Health Council. Kristene has worked on a number of projects exploring the protective and adaptive factors which aid in the adjustment, coping, and resilience of families with histories of adverse life events. Currently, Kristene is interested in exploring the physiological mechanisms underlying a wide variety of psychopathology as well as providing children and adolescents with novel emotion regulation strategies.

Nina Kirz, MD (she/her)
Dr. Kirz is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  She graduated from the Yale University School of Medicine.  She completed an internship in Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, residency in Psychiatry at Montefiore Hospital, and fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cornell University/New York Hospital.  She has worked treating eating disorders in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Stanford since 2005, in the inpatient Comprehensive Care Program until 2014 and in the outpatient clinic since then. She currently provides psychotherapy and medication management for patients with eating disorders in the outpatient clinic.

Kristine Luce, PhD
Dr. Luce is a Psychologist and Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine. She received her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Kent State University. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Seattle Veterans Hospital and a post-doctoral research fellowship at Stanford University in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Luce has specialized clinical and research experience with eating-related disorders and is the Co-Director of the Stanford Adult Eating and Weight Disorders Clinic. In addition, Dr. Luce treats anxiety and mood disorders and has specialized clinical training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.

Brittany Matheson, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Brittany Matheson is a Clinical Instructor and licensed clinical psychologist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University and earned her doctorate from the Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego. She completed her APA clinical internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford/Children’s Health Council. Dr. Matheson’s research interest include examining the psychosocial, neurocognitive, and familial factors related to disordered eating and excess weight gain in children and adolescents. In particular, Dr. Matheson has clinical and research experience in the interplay among obesity, disordered eating, and autism spectrum disorder. She is also interested in the development and implementation of evidence-based treatments for youth with disordered eating as well as better understanding factors that influence adolescent bariatric surgery outcomes.

Lilya Osipov, PhD
Dr. Osipov is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center. She completed her Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Osipov specializes in evaluation of children, adolescents and adults with eating disorders, obesity, and emotion dysregulation. Her current research interests focus on processes maintaining disordered eating behaviors and assessment and intervention with bariatric surgery candidates.

Cristin Runfola, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Cristin Runfola is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center. She was previously an Assistant Professor and Global Foundation for Eating Disorders (GFED) Scholar with the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, and completed her pre-doctoral clinical psychology internship and T32 post-doctoral research fellowship in eating disorders at UNC-Chapel Hill. She also had specialized training in eating disorders treatment and research at Stanford University and the University of San Diego, California (UCSD). She is trained in delivering manualized treatment protocols in the context of research studies, and has experience providing eating disorders treatment in the outpatient, partial hospitalization, and inpatient levels of care. She also has expertise in cognitive-behavioral couples therapy. Her research focuses on the epidemiology of dysregulated eating and weight concerns in undeserved populations and her primary interest is in developing and testing the efficacy of clinical interventions designed to improve outcome for eating disorders. Dr. Runfola also teaches graduate courses in the Stanford University and Palo Alto University PsyD Consortium.

Debra Safer, MD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Safer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center. She obtained her MD from the University of California, San Francisco and completed her residency as well as a post-doctoral fellowship in eating disorder intervention research here at Stanford. Her research and clinical work focus on treating eating and weight disorders in adults and adolescents, with an emphasis on adapting Dialectical Behavior Therapy for binge eating. She has conducted clinical trials investigating the use of psychotherapy as well as medication for eating disorders, including recent interest in innovative treatment options such as virtual reality. She has been a study therapist in several treatment research studies. More broadly, she is interested in helping efforts to address climate change mitigation with serial dramas (prosocial entertainment-education programs with methodology based on Dr. Albert Bandura's theories of self-efficacy and social modeling).

Mary Sanders, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Mary Sanders is a Clinical Associate Professor and has worked in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department at Stanford for over 30 years.  She specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. Currently, she is an Attending Psychologist on the Comprehensive Care Unit at Stanford – an inpatient unit for individuals who have become medically compromised as a result of their eating disorder.  Her research and clinical interests include the assessment and treatment of eating disorders. 

Eric Stice, PhD (he, him)
Dr. Eric Stice is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Public Mental Health and Population Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Stice has devoted his career to identifying risk factors that predict future onset of various social and mental health problems, designing and evaluating prevention programs for these problems. and encouraging broad implementation of the most effective prevention programs. Dr. Stice has conducted 10 prospective studies investigating risk factors for future increases in eating pathology, body mass, and depression, including 3 that have involved brain imaging, genotypes, and their interactions. He has also conducted 11 randomized efficacy and effectiveness prevention trials and 2 treatment trials targeting eating disorders, obesity, and depression. In addition, he has conducted meta-analytic reviews of risk factor studies for eating disorders and prevention trials for eating disorders, obesity, and depression.

Aileen Whyte, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Aileen Whyte is an Assistant Clinical Professor at Stanford School of Medicine where she also serves as Director of the Stanford Outpatient Eating Disorders Clinic. Dr. Whyte received a BA in Psychology from City College New York and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the New School, New York. Dr. Whyte completed her pre-doctoral internship training at Mount Sinai Beth Israel New York and then completed postdoctoral training at the Trauma Recovery Centre in Cork, Ireland. Dr. Whyte has served as a study therapist on FBT trials and has significant experience in the provision of FBT to young people with eating disorders. Dr. Whyte has led multiple seminars and workshops in the treatment of eating disorders and provides ongoing supervision and consultation in the FBT approach. Dr. Whyte played a key role in the development of a national clinical strategy in Ireland to increase dissemination and implementation of evidence based treatments, including FBT, with the aim of improving treatment outcomes for those with eating disorders. Her research and clinical interests include the treatment of co-occurring trauma and eating disorder symptoms as well as the implementation and dissemination of evidence based treatments.

Avery Carter M. Walker, PsyD (He. Him. They. Them) 
Dr. Avery Carter M. Walker is a child psychology postdoctoral fellow in the Stanford Eating Disorders Program. Dr. Walker is a graduate of Chatham University, Doctor of Psychology - Counseling Psychology program and completed his predoctoral internship in professional psychology with Iowa State University, Student Counseling Services. His research interest includes Men's Issues, Minority and Additive Stress, and Interpersonal conflicts and Intimacy concerns. Clinically, Dr. Walker is interested in the treatment of eating disorders across the lifespan with particular interest with boys and men, LGBTQ identities, and Culture, Identity, and individual differences. 

Dorothy Pang, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Dr. Dorothy Pang is a child psychology postdoctoral fellow at the Impatient Comprehensive Care Program at Lucile Parkard Children’s Hospital Stanford.  She completed her PhD in School Psychology at Texas A&M University and her predoctoral internship in the Illinois School Psychology Internship Consortium program. Dr. Pang’s research interests focus on the acculturation, coping and psychological adaptations among Asian Americans. Clinically, she is interested in supporting racially- and ethnically-diverse families on the inpatient unit for eating disorders and assisting patient families to transition from inpatient care to outpatient treatment by increasing patients’ perceived self-efficacy and strengthening parent-child communication.

Nandini Datta, PhD (she/her/hers)
Dr. Nandini Datta is a post-doctoral fellow, familiar to the lab as a former research coordinator. She recently completed her PhD at Duke University in Clinical Psychology, and pre-doctoral internship at Stanford LPCH/CHC.  Her research interests include investigations of interoceptive capabilities across eating disorder presentations. Of particular interest, she hopes to unpack interoceptive processes in children with ARFID across treatment settings to better understand causal mechanisms contributing to symptom maintenance. Clinically, she is interested in bridging care from inpatient programs to outpatient treatment, and works both as an outpatient therapist in the clinic and on treatment studies as well as on the inpatient unit for eating disorders. 

Kyra Citron (she/her/hers)
Kyra joined the lab in June 2020 and currently coordinates the Adaptive FBT, Adaptive fMRI, and Guided Self-Help Telemedicine FBT studies. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Psychology and Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. While an undergraduate, she conducted research in the Bass Connection’s Virtual Avatar Coaches and Duke’s Eating Disorder Research Lab. Her summers were spent at internships at Monmouth Medical Center, NYU CHIBPS, and Duke VIP in Psychology to begin her thesis research project on gender euphoria. Her research interests include the intersection of identity in the treatment of mental illness. Kyra aims to earn a PhD in clinical psychology.

Eliza Van Wye (she/her/hers)
Eliza joined the lab in October 2020, and currently coordinates the ARFID study (“Confirming the Efficacy/Mechanism of Family Therapy for Children with Low Weight Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder”). She graduated from Stanford University in 2020 with a degree in Psychology. As an undergraduate, Eliza worked as a research assistant in the Social Concepts Lab, where she spent many hours examining the social biases of preschoolers! Broadly, Eliza’s research interests lie in the intersections of cultural, social, and clinical psychology. She hopes to ultimately pursue a career in child and adolescent clinical psychology, while writing and illustrating children’s books.

Hannah Welch (she/her/hers)
Hannah is a doctoral student at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium and has been involved with the lab since she started as a Research Coordinator in 2017. She serves as an assessor on many studies in the lab and contributes to various manuscripts and projects. Her interests include the treatment of adolescent mood, anxiety, and eating disorders, as well as dissemination of evidence-based interventions. She graduated from Stanford University in 2016 with a degree in International Relations. 

Kate Arnow, MS
Kate joined the lab in June 2012 and coordinated the FBT/CRT study. She graduated from Rice University with a B.A. in psychology and history. Prior to joining the lab, she worked as the coordinator for the DSM-5 Field Trial at Stanford. Kate left the lab in 2017 to get her degree in epidemiology and has worked in both academic and public health settings. She currently is a biostatistician with the Stanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research & Education Center (S-SPIRE). 

Judy Beenhakker, MS
Judy was the lead research coordinator for the lab for over 7 years, and was responsible for coordinating several research trials related to adolescent and adult anorexia nervosa. She now works at the University of Virginia and resides in Charlottesville with her husband and two daughters. Her contributions to our lab are countless!

Alaina Critchlow, MD
Alaina worked in the lab for over three years, as the coordinator of a multi-site treatment trial investigating two types of family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa. She is also a Stanford alum and is a huge Stanford football fan. She is attended medical school at the University of Colorado, Denver. After completing her residency at Stanford, she now works as a Clinical Instructor in Stanford’s Pediatrics – Cardiology department.  

Kelsey Hagan, PhD
Dr. Hagan was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Stanford Eating Disorders Research Program. She earned a B.A. in psychology and Spanish from Emory University and earned a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in clinical psychology, with a minor in quantitative psychology. Dr. Hagan completed her predoctoral internship at the Stanford Children’s/Children’s Health Council consortium. Dr. Hagan’s research interests fall within two primary domains: 1) application of statistical approaches to improve the diagnosis and classification of eating disorders and related psychopathology; and 2) illuminating mechanisms of eating and mood disorders, with a specific focus on understanding neural mechanisms of these disorders.

Alexa L’Insalata
Alexa joined the lab in July 2017 and is currently coordinating the Adaptive FBT, Adaptive fMRI, and Guided Self-Help Telemedicine FBT studies. She graduated from Oberlin College with a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Hispanic Studies. While earning her undergraduate degree she conducted research in a substance use lab at Oberlin and held summer research assistant positions at both the Yale Parenting Center and the UCSD Eating Disorder Center for Treatment and Research. Alexa’s current career aspirations are to continue conducting eating disorder research while pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology.

Elizabeth LoTempio, PsyD
Liz worked in the lab for several conducting assessments for several of the research projects. Her research interests include prevention of eating problems in children and completed her dissertation on therapeutic alliance in the treatment of eating disorders. She is currently a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Washington and an expert in the treatment of suicidal and self-harming behaviors, borderline personality disorder, and eating disorders (including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder).

Stephanie Manasse, PhD
Stephanie joined the lab in June 2010 and worked as the coordinator for the adolescent bulimia treatment study and adaptive family treatment study for adolescents with AN. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in psychology. Stephanie attended the clinical PhD program at Drexel University and now faculty at Drexel. She is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Program at the Center for Weight, Eating, and Lifestyle Sciences (WELL Center). She is interested in developing novel treatments for adolescents and adults with eating disorders and utilizing novel assessment methods to identify cognitive and affective maintenance factors of binge eating pathology. 

Duncan Martin Dickson, PhD (he/him, they/them)
Dr. Duncan Dickson was a child psychology postdoctoral fellow in the Stanford Eating Disorders Program. He completed his PhD in school psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and his predoctoral internship in pediatric health psychology at Children’s Hospital Colorado. His research interests focus on the confluence of technology and intervention. Clinically, he is interested in the treatment of eating disorders and internalizing disorders in pediatric and adolescent populations.

Kat Nameth
Kat joined the lab in May 2017 and currently coordinates the EMA Bariatric Study, Virtual Reality for Binge-Eating Disorders study, Apple Watch study, Measurement Based Care study, Impacts of a Ketogenic Diet on Obesity and Psychiatric Symptoms study, and the Stanford Integrated Assessment of Bariatric Surgery Recipients study. She graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in Psychology and a concentration in Developmental Psychopathology. During her undergraduate studies, she worked as a research assistant in an Infant Cognition lab and Parent Behavior lab. She also was a group leader for Camp Chi, a non-profit camp for children with behavioral and developmental disabilities.

Ayotola Onipede (she/her/hers)
Ayotola joined the lab in July 2019 and coordinated the Food and Brain Study, Emotion Regulation Study, and Eating behavior Treatment Study. She completed her undergraduate degree at Tufts University and earned a B.S. in Clinical Psychology. During her undergraduate years she worked as a research assistant in a dissemination and implementation lab, Community Psychiatry PRIDE, at Mass. General Hospital. Her research interests lie at the intersection of trauma and eating pathology in adolescent populations. She hopes to eventually earn her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Linsey Utzinger, PsyD
Linsey first worked in the lab as a research coordinator from 2008 to 2012, receiving doctorate in clinical psychology from the PGSP – Stanford Consortium Program shortly after. Following which she then completed an internship at Children’s Hospital Colorado, a postdoctoral fellowship at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, and then a 2-year government-funded T32 research fellowship focused on identifying and understanding mechanisms associated with the maintenance of eating disorders, with the goal of informing intervention efforts and targeting those mechanisms in treatment. She then returned as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Eating Disorders Program at Stanford University, where she was involved in eating disorders research, teaching and clinical work. She is certified in Family-Based Treatment (FBT) for adolescents and has served as a study therapist on NIMH- and NEDA-funded research studies examining FBT and related adaptations. She currently provides individual and family therapy for adolescents, young adults, and adults with eating disorders through Park Nicollet Health Services in Minnesota.

Kimberly Rosania, PhD (she, her, hers)
Dr. Kimberly Rosania is a licensed clinical psychologist and was a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University Medical Center. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and young adults with eating disorders. Dr. Rosania obtained her doctorate in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago. She completed a predoctoral internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital / Children’s Health Council consortium and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Rosania enjoyed participating in the Eating Disorder Research Program as a therapist in several treatment studies for youth with eating disorders. 

Heather Rosen, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Heather Rosen is a licensed clinical psychologist and was a Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She has expertise in the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders in adolescents and young adults and is a certified therapist in Family Based Treatment (FBT) for anorexia nervosa. Dr. Rosen earned her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and completed her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She was a primary supervisor for psychology and psychiatry trainees in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and serves as a therapist on treatment studies for adolescents with eating disorders.

Fabiola Valenzuela
Fabiola joined the lab in December 2015 and coordinated the Food and Brain Study, which analyzed emotion and reward processing in Binge Eating. She graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in psychology, with concentrations in cognitive and abnormal psychology. She is currently attending medical school at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Molly Vierhile
Molly joined the lab in January 2015 and coordinated the Family Aggregate study and the FBT for ARFID feasibility study. She graduated from SUNY Geneseo with a B.A. in psychology and French. Prior to joining the lab, she coordinated studies examining a variety of topics, including sleep and Alzheimer’s Disease, at the University of Rochester. Upon leaving the lab Molly went on to get her Master of Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University and is currently a Product Designer at WW (previously Weight Watchers) in NYC.