Center for Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Eating Behavior

Center for Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Eating Behavior CoBRE

饮食行为研究
The Center for Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Eating Behavior (CBM-EB) allows Sanford Research, along with its partners, North Dakota State University and the University of North Dakota, to develop a unique and comprehensive clinical research center focused on identifying the factors and mechanisms that promote the development of serious eating disorders and related conditions.

The fundamental objective of this center is to develop the research and clinical infrastructure to support cutting-edge research on the processes that lead to serious eating behaviors. In addition, the center develops a comprehensive training and education plan for early-career scientists to empower them to develop research expertise in factors related to disordered eating. The center also conducts critical scientific studies on the mechanisms of eating behaviors, which hopefully will advance the field and lead to more effective treatments and better care for individuals with eating disorders and their families.

How We Are Funded
The NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences’ Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE) are awarded to establish and develop innovative, state-of-the-art biomedical and behavioral research centers. The Sanford Center for Biobehavioral Research received a CoBRE award to support the establishment of the CBM-EB.

What We Research
We research the mechanisms that perpetuate problematic eating behaviors. These behaviors are typically seen in psychiatric syndromes such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder. Additionally, our researchers are interested in mechanisms that increase the risk or perpetuation of obesity.

Publications
To learn more about the research center, see published research since the CBM-EB CoBRE inception.

Read All Publications

How We Support the Scientific Community
The CBM-EB supports the scientific community in our health system and local universities. We offer a Clinical Research Training Program, provide funds for Pilot Projects in the area of maladaptive eating behaviors and support a variety of research Cores emphasizing biostatistics, biobehavioral assessment laboratories and human subject research.

To consult with one of the research Cores or to learn more about our programs, contact Research Project Manager Kathryn Bentley, RN, atkathryn.bentley@sanfordhealth.orgor call(701) 365-4916.

The Cores are:

Research Assessment Services Core (RASC)

The RASC provides a wide range of scientific measurement methodologies for the study of eating behavior, eating disorders and related mechanistic constructs, which can be utilized by Project Directors and other collaborating scientists and trainees in their proposed projects.

Our services:

Eating Behavior and Assessment Lab

  • Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA)
  • Feeding laboratory
  • Dietary intake

    Neuroimaging and Neurobiological Assessment

    • Neuroimaging
    • Electroencephalogram (EEG)
    • Physiological assessment
    • Bioassay services

    Psychopathology Assessment

    • Self-report instruments
    • Semi-structured clinical interviews

    Cognitive Assessment

    • Laboratory cognitive assessment
    • Momentary cognitive assessment
    • Visual perception tasks

    Other

    • Microbiome
    • Genetics

      Biomedical Statistics Core (BSC)

      The purpose of the BSC is to create a methodological and statistical infrastructure supporting clinical and translational research and education focused on the mechanisms related to the onset and maintenance of eating disorders and eating behaviors.

      This Core promotes efficient access to methodological and biostatistical support by providing consultation, methodological and statistical support services, educational activities and methodological and statistical mentoring and training opportunities.

      The BSC works with the CoBRE Project Directors during the pre-grant, grant and post-grant periods, assisting in study design, sample size calculation, power analysis, data collection methods, data storage and management, ongoing study monitoring, statistical analysis, interpretations of results and assistance in the preparation of presentations and publications.

      The BSC works with the Administrative Core and Human Subjects Core to provide relevant training opportunities in the areas of the ethical conduct of research, research design, mechanistic data analytic approaches, grant writing and professional development. In addition to these training opportunities, the BSC provides more intensive training in the form of ongoing mentoring or regular hands-on training for Project Directors who are interested in expanding their analytic capabilities.

      Human Subjects Core (HSC)

      The HSC is a resource for CoBRE Project Directors and other researchers conducting research with human subjects. The goals of the HSC are:

      • To ensure researchers are adequately supported in executing research projects in compliance with regulatory requirements
      • To coordinate operational components of a research project
      • To assist in recruiting participants in a culturally sensitive and representative manner

      Areas that the HSC provides support include:

      • Facilitating institutional review board submissions
      • Coordinating the development of data safety monitoring plans
      • Assisting with recruitment and retention plans that consider variables such as gender, race and ethnicity, developmental stage, disadvantaged status and other important sampling variables
      • Assisting with developing study operational design and execution plans

      Additionally, the HSC provides education for the CoBRE Project Directors, researchers and study teams about the NIH’s regulatory aspects and best practices for conducting research with human subjects.

      The HSC also assists Project Directors in terms of identifying possible collaborations with IDeA state research sites (e.g., CoBREs, CTRs, etc.) that are relevant to eating disorders and eating behavior, as well as facilitating interactions with the eating disorder research centers broadly.

      Our Programs

      Clinical Research Training Program

      The CBM-EB hosts a Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP) to utilize ongoing instruction, mentoring and scientific consultation to assist our Project Directors in becoming independent investigators.

      This program includes a monthly seminar series and a quarterly colloquium series. These talks invite distinguished scientists in the field of eating disorder research to present a lecture and meet with our center’s scientists and discuss shared research interests and potential collaborations. Finally, the CRTP sponsors an annual half-day research grant writing workshop. All training activities are focused on clinical research associated with eating disorders and eating behavior and many are open to interested colleagues across the country.

      For more information on the CRTP, contact:
      Kathryn Bentley, BSN, RN
      (701) 365-4916
      kathryn.bentley@sanfordhealth.org

      Pilot Projects Program

      Each year, the CBM-EB invites proposals for pilot projects to support promising research that fits the scientific theme of the center. We anticipate awarding 1-3 new Pilot Projects per year. The goal of this program is to engage early career investigators in the research of eating disorders and eating behavior.

      Research areas eligible for funding within this CoBRE include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

      • Risk factors or predictors of eating disorder behavior
      • Illness-related mechanisms for the onset and maintenance of eating disorders
      • Intervention-related mechanisms regarding treatment or prevention of eating disorders
      • Factors that moderate the influence of risk factors or mechanisms of eating disorder behavior
      • The prevalence of eating disordered behaviors in different populations
      • The association between eating behaviors and other health-related behaviors

      For more information about the Pilot Projects program, contact:
      Kathryn Bentley, BSN, RN
      Research Project Manager for Pilot Projects
      (701) 365-4916
      cbm-ebcobrepilotprojects@sanfordhealth.org


      Events

      2023 Events


      Register Here


      2023 CBM-EB Seminar Series

      Second Thursday from 9:00 – 10:00 AM CST

      Location: WebEx

      Session

      Date

      Topic

      Presenter(s)

      1

      January 12

      Assessment of Eating Behaviors using the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE 17.0D)

      Christine Peat, Ph.D.

      2

      February 9

      Data Management 101- Cleaning your dataset, formatting your dataset, and running simple prediction models

      Ross Crosby, PhD.

      Leslie Laam, Ph.D.

      3

      March 9

      Team Management-

      Study Staffing and Teamwork

      Kathy Lancaster, B.A.

      Stephen Wonderlich, Ph.D.

      4

      April 13

      Human Subjects Research-

      NIH Policy Updates

      Ben Balas, Ph.D.

      HSC Team

      5

      May 11

      ED Risk/Maintenance Constructs-

      Reward Processes

      Lauren Schaefer, Ph.D.

      June 8

      Summer Break – No Seminar

      6

      July 13

      TBD- ED Risk/Maintenance Constructs- Inhibitory Control

      TBD

      7

      August 10

      ED Risk/Maintenance Constructs-

      Sleep

      Leah Irish, Ph.D.

      8

      September 14

      ED Risk/Maintenance Constructs- Attention Bias

      Jeff Johnson, Ph.D.

      9

      October 12

      ED Risk/Maintenance Constructs-

      Blood Glucose

      Gail Kerver, Ph.D.

      10

      November 9

      Eating Disorder Treatment Overview

      Stephen Wonderlich, Ph.D.

      Guest Clinician- TBD

      11

      December 14

      Severe and Enduring Eating Disorders

      Stephen Wonderlich, Ph.D.

      Guest Clinician- TBD



      2022 Events

      For more information about past events or to access the recordings, contact:
      Kara Woodbury Fladland, MEd, LPCC
      kara.woodburyfladland@sanfordhealth.org

      Past Seminar Series Events

      Professional Organizations
      Stephen Wonderlich, PhD
      December 8, 2022

      Networking Ross Crosby, PhD
      Kathryn Gordon, PhD
      November 10, 2022

      Open Science Jeff Johnson, PhD

      Ross Crosby, PhD
      October 13, 2022

      November 3, 2022

      Theories of Eating Disorders

      Stephen Wonderlich, PhD

      Gail Kerver, PhD

      2022年9月8日

      Theories of Obesity

      Leslie Heinberg, Ph.D.

      August 11, 2022

      Bariatric Surgery 101

      Scott Engel, PhD
      Kristine Steffen, PharmD, PhD
      Gail Kerver, PhD
      July 14, 2022

      Eating Disorders 101

      Stephen Wonderlich, PhD
      Lauren Schaefer, PhD
      May 12, 2022

      Latent Structure Analysis in Eating Disorder Research
      Ross Crosby, PhD
      April 14, 2022

      Moderators and Mediators in the Research of Eating Disorders

      Ross Crosby, PhD

      March 10, 2022

      Longitudinal Mixed-Effects Regression

      Models in ED Research
      Ross Crosby, PhD
      Jan. 13, 2022

      Past Colloquium Series Events
      Developments, Challenges and Recent Advancements in the Treatment of Binge-Eating Disorder
      Carlos Grilo, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Yale University
      Jan. 18, 2022

      Why People Die by Suicide
      Thomas Joiner, PhD
      May 10, 2022
      Noon CST – virtual

      Guido Frank, MD
      Professor in Residence, Psychiatry
      University of California San Diego

      Meet Our Team

      Leadership

      Stephen Wonderlich, PhD
      Principal Investigator

      Ross Crosby, PhD
      Biomedical Statistics Core Co-Director

      Daniel Friesner, PhD
      Biomedical Statistics Core Co-Director

      Scott Engel, PhD
      Research Assessment Services Core Co-Director

      Kristine Steffen, PhD
      Research Assessment Services Core Co-Director

      Kathryn Lancaster
      Human Subjects Core Director

      External Advisory Committee

      John Sladek, Jr., M.S., Ph.D., FAAA

      Professor Emeritus -Neurology, Pediatrics & Neuroscience

      University of Colorado School of Medicine

      Founding Vice Chancellor for Research (ret.)

      科罗拉多大学Anschutz Medical Center

      Kelly Allison, Ph.D.

      Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders

      Dale Bond, Ph.D.

      Director of Research Integration, Hartford Hospital

      Kyle De Young, Ph.D.

      Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Wyoming

      CoBRE Projects

      Neural Mechanisms of Biased Attention Towards Disorder-salient Stimuli in Bulimia Nervosa
      本研究将考察temporal dynamics of attention bias in women with bulimia nervosa (BN) compared to controls, using EEG; characterize the integrity of functional cortical interactions in BN using resting state (rs) fMRI; and use correlation-based statistical approaches to assess the relationship between functional connectivity and attention bias in BN.

      Project Director: Jeffrey Johnson, PhD

      A Longitudinal Examination of Reward, Eating Expectancies and Inhibitory Control in the Progression of Loss of Control Eating
      This study proposes to examine whether a history of reinforcement from eating prospectively predicts increases in eating expectancies, loss of control eating and binge eating.

      Project Director: Lauren Schaefer, PhD

      A Prospective Examination of Sleep, Eating Behavior and Weight Gain Among Overweight Adults
      This study proposes to examine sleep duration as a prospective predictor of binge eating behavior and the extent to which binge eating mediates the relationship between sleep duration, weight gain and body composition.

      Project Director: Leah Irish, PhD

      Momentary Biobehavioral Predictors of Loss of Control Eating and Weight Outcomes
      This study proposes to address biobehavioral predictors of loss of control eating among those receiving bariatric surgery to improve maintenance of weight loss outcomes following surgery.

      Project Director: Gail Williams-Kerver, PhD

      A Longitudinal, Momentary Examination of Interpersonal Stress, Inhibitory Control, Binge Eating and Non-suicidal Self-injury
      The proposed project plans to address the overlap between disordered eating behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury by evaluating the momentary effects of interpersonal stress and inhibitory control.

      Project Director: Kathryn Gordon, PhD