Brain Stimulation for Eating Disorders – Professor Ulrike Schmidt 7 April 2022

This webinar outlines the effectiveness of brain stimulation for eating disorders; a safe, precise and targeted brain surface hemisphere stimulation which enhances neuroplasticity and facilitates new learning. Study outcomes have shown a 45% physical recovery for chronic anorexia nervosa patients who were feeling stuck, abandoned and had given up hope.

UIrike is the Professor of Eating Disorders at King’s College London and a Consultant Psychiatrist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. She is also a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Senior Investigator. A key focus of her research is the development of brief scalable interventions. She has led the development of MANTRA, a NICE-recommended psychotherapy and of FREED, a multi-award winning early intervention programme. She has also pioneered the use of novel brain-directed treatments in eating disorders. Ulrike was a member of the NICE Eating Disorders Guidelines development group, chair of the Eating Disorders Section at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a board member of the Academy for Eating Disorders. She has written some 450 peer-reviewed papers and many other publications.

Lucy Gallop is currently a NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre PhD student in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London. Her work is focused on the use of novel brain-based interventions for the treatment of adolescents and adults with Anorexia Nervosa.

Michaela Flynn is an Australian researcher completing her PhD with the Eating Disorder Research Group at King’s College London. Michaela focuses on the use of neuromodulation for the treatment of eating disorders, and she is particularly interested in using these interventions to improve treatment for binge eating disorder. Prior to her PhD, Michaela led the evaluation of a novel early intervention for eating disorders (FREED) in the UK and assisted with large, randomised control trials looking at treatments for anxiety disorders with the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University in Australia.

The slides from this webinar are available here.