News in 2026
2026-05-12
Congratulations!
Julia's first paper has been accepted and published. It appeared in the Journal of Eating Disorders. We're so happy for you, Julia. Click here to read the article: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-026-01589-8
2026-05-11
GLP-1 Beyond Weight Loss
The article published in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung examines the psychological and social effects of GLP-1 medications. Prof. Anja Hilbert’s comments highlight the importance of behavioral medicine research in the fields of obesity and quality of life. The report also emphasizes how medical treatments can influence everyday life, social relationships, and well-being. Furthermore, the article discusses that the effects of GLP-1 medication may go beyond physical weight loss and can also impact emotional experiences and social interactions.
2026-03-11
Dissertation scholarship for Chiara
We are delighted to share that our doctoral student Chiara has been awarded a dissertation scholarship by the Faculty of Medicine at Leipzig University. Her research explores changes in hedonic eating behaviour and eating in the absence of hunger following bariatric surgery - a topic of great relevance for advancing our understanding of post-surgical adaptations in eating behavior.
We warmly congratulate Chiara on this wonderful achievement and wish her continued success with her doctoral work.
2026-03-05
Congress time
Anja and our doctoral student Sarah opened the conference season and attended the German Congress for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy 2026 in Berlin. Anja presented the revision of the guidelines for binge-eating disorder and Sarah presented her experimental work on parental food intake in children with loss of control eating. Congratulations!
2026-02-11
Published: 2 papers on ARFID
We are delighted to share two newly published ARFID papers stemming from doctoral work by Anne and Lena.
In Anne’s paper (Merz et al.), adults with ARFID and higher weight (overweight/obesity) showed a distinct clinical profile compared to those with underweight or normal weight, including less lack of interest in eating, higher eating-disorder psychopathology, more metabolic comorbidities, and greater psychosocial impairment. The findings highlight the need for tailored assessment and treatment for this subgroup.
In Lena’s paper (Kramer et al.), food disgust emerged as a key mechanism linking sensory sensitivity to ARFID symptoms in the picky eating and fear of aversive consequences presentations (with large and small effects, respectively), but not in the lack of interest presentation - supporting distinct etiological pathways across the three main ARFID presentations.
Congratulations, Anne and Lena—wonderful to see these contributions now in print!
2026-01-21
Guest lecture: Laura Kudlek on precision medicine in obesity
Today we had the pleasure of welcoming Laura Kudlek (University Heidelberg) for a short talk and an inspiring glimpse into her work on personalized treatment in obesity. Laura highlighted why “one-size-fits-all” simply doesn’t fit, especially in obesity research, and how personalized approaches can bring us closer to smarter, more effective care.
Many thanks, Laura, for the visit and the brilliant conversation - we loved having you!
2026-01-09
Congratultions, Ben!
Ben's first paper has been accepted and published by the International Journal of Eating Disorders. We are verry happy for you, Ben. Click here to read the paper https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.70023
2026-01-09
Breaking news: snow has officially arrived in Leipzig.
We’re documenting the event for the record (see photo evidence) and will be conducting further fieldwork—mostly involving warm drinks and careful footwork.
2026-01-02
Happy 2026!
Welcome to 2026 - may your coffee be strong and your deadlines reasonable. Plenty of congresses are coming up, and new projects are about to kick off. We’re excited to get started and turn good ideas into work we can proudly cite.