About
National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders
Our Mission
NCEED is the nation’s first center of excellence dedicated to eating disorders. Founded in 2018 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, our mission is to advance education and training of healthcare providers and to promote public awareness of eating disorders and eating disorder treatment.
Based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NCEED includes clinicians, researchers, and advocates who specialize in eating disorder care. We are committed to providing up-to-date, reliable, and evidence-based information.
Our goal is to ensure that all individuals with eating disorders are identified, treated, and supported in recovery. Though eating disorders are serious conditions, they can be identified and treated effectively – particularly when providers and the public have the knowledge and skills necessary to make a difference.
Click here for a PDF overview of NCEED!
Our mission is to advance education and training of healthcare providers and to promote public awareness of eating disorders and eating disorder treatment.
NCEED Leadership Team
Dr. Christine Peat is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). She completed her undergraduate training in Psychology at the University of Arizona and earned her Master’s degree and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of North Dakota. Her internship was in behavioral medicine at West Virginia University, after which she went on to complete her post-doctoral fellowship in eating disorders research at UNC under the directorship of Dr. Cynthia Bulik. Currently, Dr. Peat works as both a researcher and a clinician who focuses on eating pathology across the spectrum, but with a distinct focus on binge-eating disorder. She is particularly interested in the intersection between obesity, bariatric surgery, and eating pathology and investigating physiological comorbidities associated with eating disorders.
Dr. Peat is also a licensed psychologist in North Carolina and as such, treats eating disorders across the spectrum, with a primary focus on binge eating. Given her background in behavioral medicine, she has also established clinical services in the UNC Bariatric Surgery Program, where she conducts presurgical evaluations and provides behavioral medicine interventions to weight loss surgery patients. In addition to her clinical and research responsibilities, Dr. Peat is a clinical supervisor for pre-doctoral psychology interns and psychiatry residents, and she mentors undergraduate students.
Conflicts of Interest Statement:
Dr. Peat reports the following potentially competing financial interest: Scientific Advisory Board member at Sunovian.
Dr. Jean Doak is a Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Director in the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Dr. Doak has held various positions in academic medicine, non-profit, and for-profit organizations and within various levels of care. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Biology from Houston Baptist University, a Master of Arts in Psychology from University of Houston – Clear Lake, and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Houston. Dr. Doak completed her clinical internship at the University of Texas Medical Branch with a specialization in pediatric psychology and completed a LEAH (Leadership in Education and Adolescent Health) post-doctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital, focusing on education, training and clinical practice in adolescent medicine/mental health with a specialization in eating disorders.
She has extensive training in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Enhanced Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT-E) for Eating Disorders through the Centre for Research on Eating Disorders at Oxford, and Maudsley Family-Based Treatment (FBT). In addition to clinical practice, her work has focused on clinical training, consultation, program development, research/training/practice integration, and clinical operations. Dr. Doak’s most recent positions include: Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital and Regional Director at Cleveland Center for Eating Disorders/The Emily Program.
Conflicts of Interest Statement:
Dr. Doak reports the following potentially competing financial interest: income or honorarium from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Allergan PLC (Naurex Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Allergan, PLC).
Dr. Cynthia M. Bulik is the Founding Director of the University of North Carolina Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry in the UNC School of Medicine, Professor of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Professor in the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden where she directs the Centre for Eating Disorders Innovation.
A clinical psychologist, Dr. Bulik received her BA from the University of Notre Dame and her MA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed internships and post-doctoral fellowships at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She was the lead principal investigator of the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI) and is founder and co-chair of the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. She has active research collaborations in over twenty countries and has published over 600 papers and chapters on eating disorders.
Dr. Bulik is past president of the Academy for Eating Disorders, past vice-president of the Eating Disorders Coalition, past associate editor of the International Journal of Eating Disorders, and she has served on clinical or scientific advisory committees for the Global Foundation for Eating Disorders, Project Heal, and F.E.A.S.T.
Dr. Bulik has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Eating Disorders Coalition Research Award, the Academy for Eating Disorders Leadership Award for Research, the Price Family National Eating Disorders Association Research Award, IAEDP Honorary Certified Eating Disorders Specialist Award, the Academy for Eating Disorders Meehan/Hartley Award for Advocacy, and the Don and Melissa Nielsen Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Eating Disorders Association.
She is author of seven books including Crave, The Woman in the Mirror, Midlife Eating Disorders, and Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide. Read more at www.cynthiabulik.com.
Conflicts of Interest Statement:
Dr. Bulik reports the following potentially competing financial interests: A grant recipient and Scientific Advisory Board member at Shire as well as an author and royalty recipient from Pearson and Walker.
Dr. Bulik reports the following potentially competing non-financial interests: Clinical Advisory Board with Project Heal; Advisory Panel with FEAST; Advisory Council member at the Carolina Resource Center for Eating Disorders; Media Expert Panel for the Coalition for the Advancement and Application of Psychological Science; Scientific Advisory Panel for the Global Foundation for Eating Disorders.
Dr. Bulik also serves as a collaborator with OpenBiome and Recovery Record as well as a grant recipient and collaborator with uBiome.
Dr. Melissa DeRosier is a licensed clinical psychologist who has devoted her career to improving the health and well-being of children and families. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Virginia. She then earned her master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Virginia, and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of NC at Chapel Hill. Dr. DeRosier completed her clinical internship at George Washington University and a post-doctoral fellowship in Mental Health Services Research at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry department of Duke University Medical Center.
Dr. DeRosier collaborates with researchers and interventionists across the globe to design software applications that are feasible to use, engaging for users, and effective for enhancing the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of children, adolescents, and families. She founded 3C Institute in 2001 with a mission to enhance real-world use of evidence-based programs and practices, both directly through creation of its own assessment and intervention products, and indirectly through supporting the efforts of researchers, intervention developers, and providers across the U.S. and abroad.
In 2003, she founded the multi-disciplinary outpatient mental health center 3-C Family Services, and in 2015 co-founded Centervention, an Edtech company dedicated to broadly disseminating 3C’s evidence-based games for social emotional assessment and learning. As Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Centervention, she applies her expertise to help ensure students across the U.S. and beyond are able to benefit from effective and engaging game-based tools for social emotional assessment and learning.
Conflicts of Interest Statement:
Dr. DeRosier reports the following potentially competing financial interests: CEO and owner of 3C Institute.
NCEED Content Experts
Dr. Anna Bardone-Cone is a Bowman & Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor at UNC Chapel Hill and the Director of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Her research focuses on psychosocial factors related to eating disorders and body image, in particular, the role of perfectionism and the role of sociocultural factors including race, ethnicity, family, and media, as well as the examination of defining recovery.
Dr. Don Baucom is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill. He specializes in the treatment of couples in which one partner has psychological or medical complications, as well as treating relationship distress.
Brittany Davis is a fourth-year dental student at Columbia University College of Dental Medicine. She is researching ways in which dentists can better tailor care for patients with eating disorders.
Dr. Stephanie Ferrin is an Assistant Professor at UNC Chapel Hill. She specializes in adolescent medicine with a focus on the treatment and management of eating disorders.
Rachael Flatt is a doctoral candidate in Clinical Psychology at UNC Chapel Hill under the direction of Dr. Cynthia Bulik. She was an Olympic figure skater for Team USA and a National Champion, and she serves as a content expert for NCEED on athletes with eating disorders.
Dr. Tonya Foreman is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at UNC Chapel Hill. She specializes in the treatment of eating disorders.
Dr. Rachel Goode is an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work, UNC Chapel Hill. She specializes in the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to prevent and treat binge eating in African Americans.
Dr. Jennifer Kirby is a Clinical Professor at UNC Chapel Hill. She specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy, and trains and supervises students and professionals in individual and couple therapy using these treatment approaches.
Anna Lutz is a Registered Dietitian with Lutz, Alexander & Associates Nutrition Therapy in Raleigh, NC. She specializes in eating disorders and pediatric/family nutrition.
Dr. Perry is an Associate Professor and Medical Director at UNC Children’s Primary Care Clinic where she specializes in adolescent treatment. She is also the Associate Program Director of the UNC Pediatrics Residency Program.
Dr. Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodríguez is a Clinical Associate Professor at UNC Chapel Hill. Her specialties include cultural adaptation of treatments for depression and eating disorder in the Latino population, family intervention, and prevention.
Dr. Stephanie Zerwas is a clinical psychologist and family therapist. She is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UNC Chapel Hill and founder of Flourish Chapel Hill, a therapy practice for teens and young adults with disordered eating and eating disorders. She specializes in family-based therapy for eating disorders.
NCEED Advisory Board
Dr. Karon Dawkins is an Associate Professor, Vice Chair for Education, and General Psychiatry Residency Program Director at UNC Chapel Hill. She specializes in electroconvulsive therapy.
Ms. Graves is Vice President of Nutrition and Culinary Services at Veritas Collaborative, a national healthcare system for the treatment of eating disorders. She specializes in nutrition therapy for individuals with eating disorders.
Dr. Ashley Solomon is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of Galia Collaborative. She specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and women’s behavioral health challenges.
Dr. Marian Tanofsky-Kraff is Professor in the Departments of Medical and Clinical Psychology and Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) who specializes in Growth and Obesity research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the NIH. She is also Director of the Developmental Research Laboratory on Eating and Weight Behaviors and Research Director for the Military Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Program (MiCOR).
Dwain Harris has served as the National AHEC Organization CEO since January of 2019. He began his AHEC career in 2004 when he was hired as center director of the Southern Kentucky AHEC.
NCEED Staff
La-Shell Johnson, MA
Program Coordinator
Courtenay Pierce, BA
Research Assistant
