Meet the Study Team

  • Dr Natalie Lister

    Dr Natalie Lister is Co-lead and Principal Investigator of the EDIT Collaboration. She is an NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Fellow at the University of Sydney, Australia. Natalie has a background as a clinical dietitian and her research is practice-led, investigating dietary interventions that will prevent and manage obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular risk and mental health concerns in children and adolescents. Her current research investigates the safety and efficacy of dietary interventions for weight management in adolescents.

  • Dr Hiba Jebeile

    Dr Hiba Jebeile is Co-lead and Program Manager of the EDIT Collaboration. She is a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney, Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School and an Accredited Practising Dietitian. Her research investigates the association between obesity treatment and mental health with a focus on eating disorders and depression. She is exploring how to screen for eating disorders in individuals with obesity and the feasibility of mental health screening within adolescent weight management services.

  • Dr Anna Lene Seidler

    Dr Anna Lene Seidler is the methods lead of the EDIT Collaboration. She is a Research Fellow and biostatistician at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC), University of Sydney where she leads the NextGen Evidence Synthesis team. She is also a Research Associate for the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry and Co-Convenor and primary contact for the Cochrane Prospective Meta-Analysis Group. Lene specialises in systematic reviews, methods development, project management, and individual participant data (IPD). She leads several large international research projects, such as the iCOMP collaboration and the TOPCHILD collaboration. Her clinical focus areas are obesity and neonatology.

  • Dr Brittany Johnson

    Dr Brittany Johnson will oversee the intervention deconstruction component of the EDIT Collaboration. She is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Caring Futures Institute, at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Her research interests include improving children’s diet quality by reducing unhealthy food intake, applying behaviour change theory and creating supportive environments where we live, work and play. She has extensive skills in the Behaviour Change Wheel including Behaviour Change Techniques, through training by the University College London Centre for Behaviour Change, which she has applied in projects related to children’s vegetable and unhealthy food intake, and early obesity prevention interventions.

  • Dr Sol Libesman

    Sol completed a PhD on perception at the UNSW School of Psychology. Here he developed a keen interest in building statistical models. For the last two years he has specialized in the development of meta-analyses and meta-science in the NextGen Evidence Integration team in the NHMRC Clinical Trial Centre. In 2022 Sol joined the EDIT team contributing expertise in statistical modelling and IPD meta-analyses.

  • Hannah Melville

    Hannah (she/her) is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Prior to her Master of Nutrition and Dietetics, she completed a Bachelor of Medical Science at the University of New South Wales, and a Bachelor of Business at Bond University. Hannah currently works as a clinical dietitian and is passionate about relevant clinical research which explores eating disorder risk during nutrition interventions.

  • Rabia Khalid (on parental leave)

    Rabia Khalid is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian (APD) and PhD candidate at the University of Sydney. Her experience in primary health care and as a researcher at the Centre for Kidney Research has fuelled her interest in the management of obesity and disordered eating. Her PhD work involves work conducted as part of the EDIT collaboration and focuses on pathways of eating disorder development in individuals with overweight and obesity.

  • Ruth Tredinnick

    Ruth Tredinnick is the Research Administration Officer of the EDIT Collaboration. She has 10 years administration experience in Tertiary Education, within Engineering and IT, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise Learning. Ruth provides administrative support to trialists including assistance with obtaining data sharing agreements.

  • Samantha Pryde

    Samantha Pryde is an assistant researcher in the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University, South Australia. Samantha contributes to the intervention coding component of the EDIT Collaboration. She is currently completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology, with research projects focussing on social media and body image concerns among young women. She is also involved in the TOPCHILD Collaboration project.

  • Kylie Hunter

    Kylie Hunter is a Senior Evidence Analyst for the NextGen Systematic Reviews team at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. She is an experienced research methodologist with expertise in trial registration and searching, systematic reviews, individual participant data and prospective meta-analysis, with a focus on early childhood health.

  • Isabelle Jardine

    Isabelle Jardine is an Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) and a Project Officer for the EDIT Collaboration at the University of Sydney. She completed her Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours) at the University of Wollongong and has a passion in the space of mental health, with a focus on eating disorders in weight-related therapies. Isabelle aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field and extends this commitment into her work as a private practice dietitian.

  • Sasha Lorien

    Sasha Lorien is a Project Officer for the EDIT Collaboration at the University of Sydney. She has completed a Bachelor of Science (Physiology), Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours), and Master of Public Health. She has experience in the implementation and evaluation of chronic disease prevention programs, including child and adolescent health promotion services and research trials.

Meet the Scientific Advisory Panel

  • Professor Louise Baur

    Professor Louise Baur holds the Chair of Child and Adolescent Health at the University of Sydney and is a senior paediatrician in Weight Management Services at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. She is President-Elect of the World Obesity Federation (to be President from 2022-2024). She has long-standing research and practice interests in the clinical treatment of children and adolescents with obesity and insulin resistance, and in the primary prevention especially in early childhood.

  • Em Professor Susan Paxton

    Susan Paxton is Emeritus Professor in the School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University. Her research focuses on understanding risk factors for body image and eating problems. She is a past President of the Academy for Eating Disorders and was a Director of the Butterfly Foundation from 2009-2021.

  • Dr Amy Ahern

    Dr Amy Ahern is a Principal Research Associate and Programme Leader for the Prevention of Diabetes and Related Metabolic Disorders in High Risk Groups in the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. Amy leads research developing and evaluating interventions to prevent and treat obesity, diabetes and related metabolic disorders, with a focus on scalable, cost-effective interventions that can improve physical and mental health.

  • Associate Professor Sarah Garnett

    Associate Professor Sarah Garnett is a Senior Research Fellow/Specialist Dietitian APD, Institute of Endocrinology, CHW and a conjoint A/Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney. She has extensive expertise in obesity research including designing, implementing and leading multi-disciplinary and multi-site epidemiological studies and clinical trials. She is the Deputy Editor of Clinical Obesity, an official journal of World Obesity and Chair, the SCHN Human Research Ethics Committee.

  • Professor Denise Wilfley

    Dr. Denise Wilfley, Scott Rudolph University Professor and Director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness at Washington University School of Medicine. She is an internationally-recognized expert on the etiology, prevention, and treatment of eating and weight-related disorders in children, adolescents, and adults.

  • Professor Kate Steinbeck

    Professor Kate Steinbeck is an endocrinologist and adolescent physician, and Professor and Medical Foundation Chair in Adolescent Medicine at the University of Sydney. She is a senior consultant in the Department of Adolescent Medicine, The Sydney Children’s Hospital Network, and Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Adolescent Health: Wellbeing, Health & Youth. Kate’s research includes the effects of puberty hormones on adolescent wellbeing, mood and behaviour, access to health care youth with a focus on marginalised and vulnerable groups, the complications and management of adolescent and young adult obesity, the long term endocrine effects of childhood cancer therapy, and research methodologies in adolescents especially in the use of digital technology in research and health care.

  • Dr Sarah Maguire

    Dr Sarah Maguire (BScPsych Hons, MA, DCP, PhD) is a clinical psychologist, researcher, educator, policy and practice advisor and Director of InsideOut Institute where she leads a research team with a broad research agenda, including biological, health systems, health economics, prevention, public health promotion, clinical intervention, and translational research.

  • Professor Amanda Salis

    With a Bachelor of Science (with First Class Honours) from the University of Western Australia and a PhD from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, Professor Amanda Salis (nee Sainsbury) leads a research team at the University of Western Australia's School of Human Sciences that aims to help people to attain and maintain an optimum body weight and composition. Adept in translating novel research findings into human benefits, Amanda's research into hypothalamic control of energy homeostasis spans studies with conditional transgenic mice to randomized controlled clinical trials in humans.

  • Dr Dasha Nicholls

    Dr Dasha Nicholls is Clinical Reader in Child Psychiatry at Imperial College London. She is Past President of the Academy for Eating Disorders and Past Chair of the Eating Disorders Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Her research interests are in eating disorders risk factors and prevention, and early intervention for eating disorders and obesity.

  • Professor Andrew Hill

    Professor Andrew Hill is a Chartered Psychologist and Professor of Medical Psychology at Leeds University School of Medicine, where he is Director of Student Progression. He combines a career in the education of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students with research in obesity, eating disorders, and appetite control.

  • Professor Caroline Braet

    Professor Caroline Braet is head of the Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology at Ghent University in Belgium. Her research focuses on externalizing and internalizing problems in children and adolescents, the underlying psychological mechanisms as well as the implications for diagnostic issues and intervention, with specific focus on transdiagnostic processes (information processing, family processes and emotion regulation). The research is embedded in models on the development of psychopathology (cognitive theory, affect regulation theory).

  • Associate Professor Milan Piya

    A/Prof Milan Piya is a clinical academic endocrinologist at Western Sydney University, and Camden and Campbelltown Hospitals. He is a council member of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS), and has a clinical and research interest in Type 2 diabetes, obesity and eating disorders, particularly in the context of severe obesity.

Meet the Stakeholder Advisory Panel

  • Faith Anne Heeren

    Faith Anne Heeren is a doctoral student at the University of Florida. At the age of 16, she underwent gastric bypass, which sparked her involvement in obesity research and patient advocacy. She is also the founder of OCEANS, a 501(c)3 nonprofit for adolescents living with obesity.

  • Kelly Cooper

    Kelly Cooper is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and health advocate. In her private practice, Kelly often works with patients who have experienced weight stigma. Kelly is the former manager of the Obesity Collective, the peak health body for obesity in Australia. She holds a voluntary position on the Lived Experience leadership team at the Weight Issues Network and is on the Dietitians Australia Health Behaviour and Weight Management Special Interest Group.

  • Genevieve Dammery

    Genevieve Dammery is a peer researcher and lived experience mentor and advocate for eating disorders. She is an emerging researcher, having completed her Bachelor of Science (Hons I) at the University of Sydney in 2020. Genevieve currently works at the NHMRC Partnership Centre for Health System Sustainability and has been involved as a member of the National Eating Disorder Research & Translation Strategy lived experience and expert group.

  • Ted Kyle

    Ted Kyle is a pharmacist and health innovator living in Pittsburgh. He's also a tireless advocate for people living with obesity. His widely-read daily commentary, published at http://conscienhealth.org/news, reaches an audience of more than 15,000 thought leaders in health and obesity.

  • Dr Jackie Yourell

    Jackie Yourell has been awarded her PhD in Youth Development and Family Sciences at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on leveraging parent-child relationships and communication to promote adolescent health and prevent the many negative consequences that result from weight stigma and weight-based bullying. She lived with obesity from childhood through late adolescence, and her journey to a healthy relationship with food, exercise, and body image drives her passion for promoting the health and wellbeing of youth and families and eating disorder prevention.

  • Dr Rebecca Jones

    Dr Rebecca Jones is the Programme Manager of an NIHR-funded programme at the University of Cambridge (UK) on scalable behavioural weight management programmes. Before completing her PhD at University of Cambridge, Rebecca worked in weight management services for many years and developed a strong interest in the relationship between weight management and mental health. Her PhD built on this experience and investigated the role of mental health in behavioural weight management interventions. Rebecca has lived experience of obesity and mental ill-health.

  • Molly Robbins

    Molly Robbins (she/her) is a clinical psychology PhD student studying the intersection of weight stigma and eating disorders. As a student, researcher, clinician, and advocate, she works to educate healthcare providers and the public on topics of medicalized anti-fat bias and eating disorder risk in higher weight individuals. Molly has lived experience of weight stigma/anti-fat bias and is a survivor of an eating disorder herself. She is passionate about body liberation, Health at Every Size, and intersectional social justice. Molly would like to work toward creating equitable, accessible, affirming, and effective treatment for eating disorders in people of all sizes and identities.

  • Alicia Grunseit

    Alicia Grunseit is a dietitian with over 15 years’ experience in paediatrics and weight management. She is currently working as a senior Dietitian at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in the areas of obesity, eating disorders and adolescents. Alicia has a strong interest in adolescents with severe obesity and eating disorder risk and encouraging long lasting healthy lifestyle change.

Trial Representatives (in alphabetical order)

·       A/Prof Rachel Barnes, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA

·       Prof Melanie Bean, Virginia Commonwealth University, USA

·       Dr Kristine Beaulieu, University of Leeds, UK

·       Prof Maxine Bonham, Monash University, Australia

·       Prof Kerri Boutelle, University of California San Diego, USA

·       Prof Caroline Braet, Ghent University, Belgium

·       A/Prof Braulio Henrique Magnani Branco, University Center of Maringa (UNICESUMAR), Brazil

·       Dr Simona Calugi, Villa Garda Hospital, Italy

·       Dr Michelle Cardel, University of Florida College of Medicine, USA

·       Dr Kelly Carpenter, RVO Health, USA

·       Dr Hoi Lun (Helen) Cheng, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Australia

·       Dr Riccardo Dalle Grave, Villa Garda Hospital, Italy

·       Dr Katherine Darling, Brown University, USA

·       Prof Brenda Davy, Virginia Tech, USA

·       A/Prof Marcelo Demarzo, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil

·       Dr Aimee Dordevic, Monash University, Australia

·       Dr Dawn Eichen, University of California San Diego, USA

·       Prof Leonard Epstein, University at Buffalo, USA

·       A/Prof Andrea Goldshmidt, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA

·       A/Prof Amy Gross, University of Minnesota Medical School, USA

·       Faith Heeren, University of Florida College of Medicine, USA

·       Prof Anja Hilbert, University of Leipzig, Germany

·       A/Prof Katrijn Houben, Maastricht University, Netherlands

·       Dr Erica Howes, Virginia Tech, USA

·       Prof Elissa Jelalian, Brown University, USA

·       Dr Natalie Lister, University of Sydney, Australia

·       Dr Mara Lofrano do Prado, California State University, USA

·       Prof Corby Martin, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, USA

·       Prof Anne McTiernan, University of Washington, USA

·       A/Prof Janell Mensinger, Nova Southeastern University, USA

·       Dr Tiffany Naets, Ghent University, Belgium

·       Prof Dasha Nicholls, Imperial College London, UK

·       A/Prof Carly Pacanowski, University of Delaware, USA

·       Dr Stephanie Partridge, University of Sydney, Australia

·       A/Prof Wagner Prado, California State University, USA

·       Dr Sofia Ramalho, Lusíada University, Portugal

·       Dr Jayanthi Raman, University of Newcastle, Australia

·       Prof Hollie Raynor, University of Tennessee, USA

·       Prof Kyung (Kay) Rhee, University of California San Diego, USA

·       Prof Elizabeth Rieger, Australian National University, Australia

·       Prof Eric Robinson, University of Liverpool, UK

·       Prof Amanda Salis, University of Western Australia, Australia

·       Dr Vera Salvo, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil

·       Prof Nancy Sherwood, University of Minnesota, USA

·       Prof Sharon Simpson, University of Glasgow, UK

·       Dr Hanna Skjakodegard, University of Bergen, Norway

·       A/Prof Evelyn Smith, Western Sydney University, Australia

·       A/Prof Yngvild Sørebø Danielsen, University of Bergen, Norway

·       Prof Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA

·       Prof Rachael Taylor, University of Otago, New Zealand

·       Dr Annelies Van Eyck, University of Antwerp, Belgium

·       Prof Krista Varady, University of Illinois Chicago, USA

·       Dr Alaina Vidmar, Children's Hospital Los Angeles and University of Southern California, USA

·       Dr Victoria Whitelock, Cancer Research UK, UK

·       Prof Denise Wilfley, Washington University in St Louis, USA

·       Dr Jack Yanovski, National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA