About the Author

Deborah C. Beidel received her B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, completing her predoctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. At the University of Central Florida, she is Trustee Chair and Pegasus Professor of Psychology and Medical Education, Associate Chair for Research, and the Director of UCF RESTORES, a clinical research center dedicated to the study of anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorders through research, treatment and education. Previously, she was on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh, Medical University of South Carolina, University of Maryland--College Park, and Penn State College of Medicine-Hershey Medical Center. Currently, she holds American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) Diplomates in Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Psychology and is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychopathological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science. She is past Chair of the Council for University Directors in Clinical Psychology (CUDCP), a past Chair of the American Psychological Association's Committee on Accreditation, the 1990 recipient of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy's New Researcher Award, and the 2007 recipient of the Samuel M. Turner Clinical Researcher Award from the American Psychological Association. While at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Beidel was twice awarded the "Apple for the Teacher Citation" by her students for outstanding classroom teaching. In 1995, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Association of Medical School Psychologists. She was editor in chief of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders and author of more than 250 scientific publications, including journal articles, book chapters, and books, including Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Guide to Research and Treatment and Shy Children, Phobic Adults: The Nature and Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder. Her academic, research, and clinical interests focus on child, adolescent, and adult anxiety disorders, including their etiology, psychopathology, and behavioral interventions. Her research is characterized by a developmental focus and includes high-risk and longitudinal designs, psychophysiological assessment, treatment development, and treatment outcome. She is the recipient of numerous grants from the Department of Defense, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Autism Speaks Foundation. At the University of Central Florida, she teaches abnormal psychology at both the undergraduate and graduate level and is currently establishing a new multidisciplinary center devoted to using technology to enhance and disseminate empirically supported treatments for anxiety and stress- and trauma-related disorders. She is also a wife, an active participant in community service organizations, and a rescuer/adopter of shelter cats and dogs.

Cynthia M. Bulik is the Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she is also Professor of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health, Founding Director of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders, and Co-Director of the UNC Center for Psychiatric Genomics. She is also Professor of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, where she directs the Center for Eating Disorders Innovation. A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Bulik has been conducting research and treating individuals with eating disorders since 1982. She received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She completed internships and postdoctoral fellowships at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She developed outpatient, partial hospitalization, and inpatient services for eating disorders both in New Zealand and the United States. Her research has included treatment, basic science, epidemiological, twin, and molecular genetic studies of eating disorders and body weight regulation. She is the Director of the first NIMH-sponsored Post-Doctoral Training Program in Eating Disorders. She has active research collaborations in 21 countries around the world. Dr. Bulik has written more than 500 scientific papers and chapters on eating disorders and is author of the books Eating Disorders: Detection and Treatment (Dunmore), Runaway Eating: The 8 Point Plan to Conquer Adult Food and Weight Obsessions (Rodale), Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop, The Woman in the Mirror: How to Stop Confusing What You Look Like with Who You Are, Midlife Eating Disorders: Your Journey to Recovery (Walker), and Binge Control: A Compact Recovery Guide. She is a recipient of the Eating Disorders Coalition Research Award, the Hulka Innovators Award, the Academy for Eating Disorders Leadership Award for Research, the Price Family National Eating Disorders Association Research Award, the Carolina Women's Center Women's Advocacy Award, the Women's Leadership Council Faculty-to-Faculty Mentorship Award, and the Academy for Eating Disorders Meehan-Hartley Advocacy Award. She is a past President of the Academy for Eating Disorders, past Vice-President of the Eating Disorders Coalition, and past Associate Editor of the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Dr. Bulik holds the first endowed professorship in eating disorders in the United States. She balances her academic life by being happily married, a mother of three, and a competitive ice dancer and ballroom dancer.

Melinda A. Stanley is Professor and Head of the Division of Psychology in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. She holds the McIngvale Family Chair in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Research and a secondary appointment as Professor in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Stanley is a clinical psychologist and senior mental health services researcher within the Health Services Research and Development Center of Innovation, Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, and an affiliate investigator for the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). Before joining the faculty at Baylor, she was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, where she served as Director of the Psychology Internship program. Dr. Stanley completed an internship and postdoctoral fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She received a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, an M.A. from Princeton University, and a B.A. from Gettysburg College, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude graduate. Dr. Stanley's research interests involve the identification and treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders in older adults. Her current focus is on expanding the reach of services for older people into primary care and underserved communities where mental health needs of older people often remain unrecognized and undertreated. In these settings, the content and delivery of care require modifications to meet cultural, cognitive, sensory, and logistic barriers. Some of Dr. Stanley's work in this domain includes the integration of religion and spirituality into therapy to enhance engagement in care for traditionally underserved groups. Dr. Stanley and her colleagues have been awarded continuous funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for 19 years to support her research in late-life anxiety. In 2008, Dr. Stanley received the Excellence in Research Award from the South Central MIRECC. In 2009, she received the MIRECC Excellence in Research Education Award. She has received numerous teaching awards and has served as mentor for nine junior faculty career development awards. Dr. Stanley is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and she has served as a regular reviewer of NIMH grants. She is the author of more than 200 scientific publications, including journal articles, book chapters, and books. Dr. Stanley's other roles in life include wife, mother, dog rescue volunteer, and Sunday School teacher.