Advancing translational neuroscience research for eating disorders

Abstract

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 56(7) Eating disorders are among the most complex psychiatric disorders encountered in clinical practice, with anorexia nervosa (AN), for example, having the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The aetiology of eating disorders remains elusive and the development of targeted pharmacological interventions for eating disorders has stalled. Moreover, a 2017 study found that government funding for eating disorder research in Australia equates to approximately AUD$1.10 per affected individual, in noticeable contrast to research funding for schizophrenia standing at AUD$67.36 per affected individual (Murray et al., 2017). At the 2022 Meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Academy of Eating Disorders (ANZAED), we held a Plenary session entitled ‘Translating eating disorders neuroscience research: Lessons from bench-to-bedside treatments’ to highlight potential avenues for the development of novel eating disorder treatments. This article presents a summary of the topics covered therewithin.