Overview

My research focuses on improving how eating disorders are understood, identified, and treated—particularly in the context of weight stigma, structural bias, and real-world care delivery.

I am especially interested in how care models can be designed to better reflect patients’ lived experiences, and how research can generate evidence that is both rigorous and directly actionable.

Across my work, I use a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches to inform more equitable, patient-centered systems of care.

⭐ Featured Applied Research

Rehab at Home: Evaluating Home-Based Post-Acute Care (RCT)

Project Manager / Research Lead

I am currently the project manager on a randomized controlled trial evaluating a home-based model of post-acute physical rehabilitation following hospitalization.

This study examines whether delivering rehabilitation in the home can:

  • Improve functional recovery

  • Reduce barriers to care access

  • Support patient engagement in real-world environments

  • Inform more scalable, patient-centered models of care

The trial involves close collaboration across clinical, research, and data teams, with a focus on generating evidence that can directly inform care delivery and implementation.

Why it matters: While focused on post-acute rehabilitation, this work reflects a broader interest in how care delivered in real-world settings can improve outcomes and access—an approach that is highly relevant across healthcare domains, including behavioral health.

🔍 Recent Research (Eating Disorders & Weight Stigma)

Transforming Internalized Weight Stigma in Recovery

“Going against everything society has told me”: The role of transformative learning in healing internalized weight stigma
(Studies in the Education of Adults, 2025)

  • Examines how individuals challenge internalized weight stigma

  • Highlights identity reconstruction and meaning-making in recovery

Why it matters: Internalized stigma is a key barrier to recovery and long-term outcomes.

Reframing Restrictive Eating Disorders Through a Weight-Inclusive Lens

A weight-inclusive approach to restrictive eating disorders: De-centering weight
(International Journal of Eating Disorders, 2025)

  • Challenges weight-centric diagnostic and treatment approaches

  • Highlights risks of underdiagnosis and inequitable care

Why it matters: Supports more accurate and inclusive models of care

Media, Representation, and Body Image

The relationship between celebrities and body image ideals among Hispanic and Black women
(Feminist Media Studies, 2025)

  • Explores culturally specific influences on body image

  • Expands understanding of risk and resilience

Why it matters: Highlights the importance of culturally grounded research and culturally sensitive media.

Nature, Embodiment, and Recovery

“It helps me to be more aware and connected to my body when I spent so many years trying to disconnect”: A qualitative pilot study on the impact of time spent in nature on eating disorder recovery
(Body Image, 2025)

  • Examines how environment supports embodiment and healing

Why it matters: Expands how recovery environments are conceptualized.

Improving Measurement Across Populations

F-NIAS validation and measurement invariance (ARFID screening tool)
(Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 2025)

  • Evaluates reliability across demographic groups

  • Resulted in new screening tool for use in Farsi-speaking populations

Why it matters: Supports more equitable identification of disorder risk.

Research Themes

Across my work, several themes are consistent:

  • Weight stigma as a driver of access, experience, and outcomes

  • The need for weight-inclusive, patient-centered care models

  • Expanding care beyond traditional clinical settings

  • Bridging lived experience with rigorous study design

  • Generating evidence that directly informs care delivery and system design