News in 2026
2026-09-11
Today, Anja contributed to a Deutschlandfunk programme in the Lebenszeit series entitled “Just Thin? How Weight-Loss Drugs Are Shaping Our Body Image” (“Einfach dünn? Was Abnehmmittel mit unserem Körperbild machen”). The programme explores how the growing availability of weight-loss medications changes our body image, and whether it is increasing societal pressure to be thin or, instead, fostering greater (self-)acceptance of overweight and larger bodies. You can listen to the programme here: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/lebenszeit-100.html
Congratulations, Jördis, on your PhD and on this important contribution to our understanding of weight bias internalization. Your study shows that greater social support is associated with lower depression severity and higher self-esteem, but does not buffer the adverse association between weight bias internalization and well-being, suggesting that social support may be a valuable coping resource, but not a protective buffer against WBI-related distress. Wishing you every success and much joy in this well-deserved achievement!
Kaden J, Hübner C, Mansfeld T, et al. The Application of Cohen's Stress-Buffering Model for Weight Bias Internalization in Prebariatric Patients. Obes Facts. 2024;17(5):483-490. doi:10.1159/000539857
Fully Validated!
This week our MD student Caroline defended her thesis with the best possible result: summa cum laude! Her dissertation focused on validating the parent version of the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire adapted for children, contributing an important step toward better capturing eating disorder symptoms in children.
Rigorous work, rigorously rewarded. Congratulations, Caroline!
We're incredibly proud of your achievement and excited to see where your future career takes you!
Field Trip: Team Edition
Yesterday, our team swapped desks for wildflowers and headed to the Erholungspark Lößnig-Dölitz for a guided herb walk with biologist and certified herbal educator Ilona Kreft. Over roughly 4 kilometers, we learned to identify wild herbs safely and discovered their many uses for cooking, nutrition, and health.
Turns out there's a lot more growing along the path than we ever noticed (which we were already able to spot on the way to work the very next day). A big thank you to Ilona for sharing her knowledge and passion for the plant world with us. We are already looking forward to our next outdoor adventure!
Today, we had the pleasure of welcoming Professor Irantzu Barrio Beraza from the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao (Spain) in Leipzig! We had inspiring conversations about strengthening our collaboration within an upcoming EU-funded Doctoral Network. And, of course, we also exchanged ideas about some fancy statistical methods… We are very much looking forward to continuing this exciting collaboration and to all the opportunities ahead.
Today, our MD student Charlotte Rottschäfer successfully completed her doctoral degree! Congratulations, Charlotte!
In her doctoral research, Charlotte investigated the associations between interpersonal problems, negative affect, and symptoms of Night Eating Syndrome, an understudied eating disorder characterized by considerable food intake in the evening or at night, in a representative German population sample. The findings highlighted interpersonal difficulties and negative affect as potential risk or maintaining factors of night eating, underscoring the need for confirmation in prospective research (https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.24463).
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.