InsideOut make a major contribution at London International Eating Disorders Conference

The InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders team were major contributors at the London International Eating Disorders conference, one of the leading and most respected eating disorders conferences in the world, last week. The theme of the conference, which celebrated its 30th anniversary, was ‘Navigating emotions in our understanding of eating disorders’.

A highlight of the event was InsideOut PhD Researcher, Sarah Barakat receiving the prestigious Rachel Bryant-Waugh Award for Excellence in Childhood and Adolescent Eating Disorders for her innovative research presentation: Translation of findings from a randomised controlled trial to real-world implementation of an online self-help program in Australian youth mental health service.

‘It was an honour to receive the Rachel Bryant-Ward Award in London, it’s an acknowledgement of all the hard work we do at InsideOut to develop innovative and inclusive youth mental health programs to assist young people to live better lives.’ Sarah said.

 Director of InsideOut Institute for Eating Disorders, Emeritus Professor Stephen Touyz, with Professor Hubert Lacey from St George's University of London and Schoen-UK, were allocated the major auditorium for their workshop on severe and enduring anorexia nervosa where there was a lot of interest from participants to learn how to more effectively treat this cohort of patients. Professor Touyz was one of only four invited pioneers in the field of eating disorders to reflect on thirty years of research in the field. He highlighted some of the important contributions he has made to the treatment of patients with anorexia nervosa and pointed to the exciting neuroimaging research now underway that is likely to transform the treatment landscape.

 National Programs Manager for InsideOut, Peta Marks reflected on her experience of presenting at the conference: ‘I was really proud to represent just some of the amazing work of the InsideOut team at the special 30 year anniversary of LEDC, where Emeritus Professor Touyz and other senior world leaders reflected on eating disorders research over the past 3 decades.’

 ‘It's great to work in an environment where innovation is fostered, where co-design happens as part of our everyday practice, and where we are given the opportunity to work across such an amazing array of projects and activities.’

‘We are clearly the world leader in the development and delivery of digital products for the field of eating disorders. Our presentations and workshops about our eClinic, eTherapies and GP Hub were very well received by the international audience, with many eating disorder world-leaders noting that we are well ahead of any other work happening in this space.’