My career began with research, which I first explored as an undergraduate at Harvard. The academic process appealed to me, and I liked that it could help advance patient care. In medical school, I decided to pursue Psychiatry, as I saw the transformative effect of medication and therapy on people’s lives. Following residency, I completed a clinical research fellowship with Columbia University, and remained on faculty for ten years, investigating taste responsiveness and excessive exercise in people with eating disorders. I was honored to receive a number of grant awards and believe my work helped advance the field.
During my time as a researcher, I also treated patients with eating disorders, and found this work increasingly compelling. I was struck by the degree to which disordered eating could limit peoples’ lives, and by the difficulty many had finding empathic and appropriate care. I joined NYU Langone’s inpatient faculty in 2012, and shortly thereafter established an outpatient practice at 1 Park Avenue that is dedicated largely to the assessment and treatment of people with disordered eating behaviors.
When a new patient comes for a consultation, we review in detail their prior history as well as current struggles and develop a working model of factors maintaining ongoing symptoms. A typical treatment plan includes behavioral and psychotherapeutic recommendations, and potential pharmacotherapeutic options, individualized to each patient. While I no longer conduct research, my approach is informed by advances in our field, as well as my experience treating people with eating disorders for over 20 years. I work closely with colleagues both at NYU Langone and in the general medical community. Critically, my patients are the most important collaborators in their care.
