# Driven exercise and risk for eating disorders: A combined genetic and longitudinal epidemiological investigation

> **NIH NIH K01** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2021 · $185,712

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Candidate: I am a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University
of Wisconsin (UW). Career Goals: My ultimate goal is to combine my clinical expertise with training in genetic
epidemiology and statistical genetics, which will allow me to develop sophisticated risk prediction models for
eating- and activity-related risk in psychiatry. Investigations that combine genetic information with detailed
epidemiological data will improve understanding of etiology, enhance detection and diagnosis, and lead to novel
interventions for psychiatric illness. Career Development: I request support for mentored training to build skills
in four areas: (1) genetic and biological risk for health-related behaviors; (2) longitudinal data analysis; (3) genetic
epidemiology and statistical genetics; and (4) professional development as a junior faculty member. Research
Project: This study leverages existing data resources from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
(ALSPAC) and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) along with GWAS summary statistics from several
large epidemiological studies. The primary aim of this project will be to map genetic and developmental risk for
driven exercise, a common and understudied feature of eating disorders. First, I will identify and characterize
physical activity trajectories from late childhood through emerging adulthood in ALSPAC and capture
associations between these trajectories and driven exercise and eating disorder risk. Second, I will examine the
relationship between driven exercise and eating disorder psychopathology, both in ALSPAC and in the PGC.
Finally, I will use genomic structural equation modeling to determine the extent to which driven exercise reflects
genetic predispositions to theoretically-linked traits. These results will inform future my independent applications
(R01s) that explore unique contributions of genes and environment to predict risk for dysregulated eating and
activity patterns in psychiatric illness. Environment: The proposed training and research will occur at UW and
includes collaborations with the international power of the PGC and top-notch researchers in the fields of genetic
epidemiology, eating disorders, exercise psychology, and statistical genetics. Mentorship: The mentorship team
will be led by Dr. Corinne Engelman, whose research focuses on genetic epidemiology of complex human traits.
Dr. Cynthia Bulik, co-mentor, is an internationally recognized expert in eating disorder research and co-chair of
the eating disorders workgroup of the PGC. Dr. Nadia Micali, co-mentor, has been the lead eating disorder
resource on the ALSPAC cohort for the past 20 years. Dr. Dane Cook, collaborator, has expertise in the
psychobiology of exercise. Dr. Qiongshi Lu, collaborator, has specialized knowledge in statistical genetics,
including methods proposed in this application, and Dr. Cathryn Lewis, collaborator, is a world-renowne...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10167791
- **Project number:** 5K01MH123914-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** Katherine Schaumberg
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $185,712
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10167791

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10167791, Driven exercise and risk for eating disorders: A combined genetic and longitudinal epidemiological investigation (5K01MH123914-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10167791. Licensed CC0.

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