Stewart Agras, M.D. Research
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Current research
Current research is funded by the National Institutes of Health and by the McKnight Foundation. The research includes:
- A prospective study of a cohort of infants recruited from the community from birth onwards aimed at delineating psychosocial risk factors for the development of obesity. In addition, it has been possible to delineate factors prospectively associated with the development of disordered eating during infancy and childhood. The cohort of children is now aged 11 - 12 years.
- A prospective study of the eating disorders. This is a multicenter study following persons with eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and subclinical variants of these disorders) for a period of four years with frequent assessments.
- A treatment study for chronic anorexia nervosa comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy, fluoxetine (prozac) and the combination of the two in a large scale multicenter study.
- A treatment study for bulimia nervosa comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy with a stepped care approach to treatment beginning with supervised self-help, proceeding to fluoxetine if needed, and then to cognitive-behavioral therapy if needed. The aim of this multicenter study is to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these two approaches to treatment.
These studies are supported by the Stanford Eating Disorders Data Center which is responsible for the collection and analysis of the data emanating from the above multicenter studies. This has enabled the collection of a unique data base of well characterized eating disordered individuals often followed over long periods. The data base allows opportunities to test hypotheses on large numbers of individuals.
