Stand with EAT Lab: Save Critical Eating Disorder Research

In the past week the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) lab has received two federal grant terminations that support the salary and work of a post-doctoral fellow and PhD student in clinical psychology. These team members are essential to the lifesaving work we do developing better treatments and preventions for eating disorders. These are researchers who are dedicated to advancing our understanding of eating disorders — complex mental health conditions that affect millions of lives but remain deeply misunderstood and underfunded.

These grants were terminated because of the color of these trainees’ skin, with no consideration to the harm that these terminations will cause on the progress of the work and the trajectory of these trainees' careers. Here is what is disrupted:

Project 1: This project is developing advanced machine learning models to figure out what increases risk for onset of eating disorders in children ages 8-14. In every classroom of 25 kids, at least 4-5 will develop an eating disorder. In plain language, this study would figure out how to prevent and stop eating disorders from occurring in our kids.

Project 2: This project was examining how to improve eating disorder treatment. Specifically, this fellow was developing more effective, compassionate treatments for individuals battling eating disorders, to save lives. Someone dies every 52 minutes from an eating disorder and this project was set specifically to understand how to prevent and treat such medical complications in a personalized approach.

These impact not only on science and trainees, but our patients enrolled in our clinical trials.

With your support, the EAT lab can continue this essential work — work that brings hope and healing to so many.

Funds raised will help cover:

• Sustain postdoctoral fellow and Ph.D. researcher positions

• Fund critical ongoing research on eating disorders

• Provide resources for training, conference travel, and publishing

• Ensure continuity in the development of treatments that save lives

• Access to lab and clinical research tools

• Participant outreach and data collection

• Living expenses while reapplying for grants

Every single cent you donate will go towards supporting eating disorder research and in particular recovering the lost funding for these brilliant trainees.

Your generosity — whether through a donation or simply sharing this campaign — helps ensure this research continues when it’s needed most. And at this most cruel time, it also will show our trainees that we believe in them, their work, and their future.

Thank you for believing in science, mental health care, and the power of community.

Lab Director of the EAT Lab

Cheri A. Levinson, Ph.D.

https://www.louisvilleeatlab.com/

EAT lab’s mission: The Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Laboratory has a six-pronged mission, all of which center on improving the lives of those with eating disorders. Our mission is to (a) conduct cutting-edge research to develop novel treatments for eating disorders, (b) provide high-quality, evidence-based treatment for eating disorders (c) train the next generation of eating disorder researchers and clinicians, (d) distribute scientifically-based prevention programs across the community, (e) advocate for more awareness, better treatment, and services for eating disorders, and (f) work toward a more equitable and inclusive future that alleviates barriers to accessing high-quality treatment, prevention, and research for underserved populations.

**Trainees have asked that their names are not shared for privacy sake

**Grant terminations were of ‘diversity supplements’ a funding mechanism that has been in existence since the 1990s. Its goal was to promote underrepresented populations to remain in science and to support their work. This includes those who are black, Hispanic, first-generation college student, those with disabilities, raised in foster care or under the poverty line. As of March 2025, the federal government canceled this funding mechanism, despite the fact that funding was promised for many trainees through 2026. The EAT lab in particular will lose over $284,000 in funding that was promised through August 2026 to support our trainees. Every little bit helps!