Simone Rehn

Dr. Simone Rehn is a Researcher at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), School of Life Sciences, and concurrently held a Lecturer position at the University of Notre Dame (2023–2024). She specializes in understanding the impact of eating patterns on reward learning and motivation, employing animal models, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses to study binge eating's behavioral, physiological, and neurobiological consequences. Her research has been funded by grants from UTS's School of Psychology and Universities Australia Germany collaboration scheme.

Dr. Rehn earned a PhD in Behavioural Psychology from the University of Sydney (2018–2023) and a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) from the same institution (2014–2017). She was awarded the School of Psychology's 2022 Publication Prize for her seminal review on binge eating animal models. Her work has been presented at international conferences including the Australian Learning Group and the British Feeding and Drinking Society.

Her research interests include neurobiological mechanisms underlying binge eating, sex differences in behavior, and translational preclinical studies. Key findings include persistent binge-like sucrose intake in rats and the role of hedonic changes in taste preferences. She has collaborated with institutions like Hanover Medical School and Cardiff University on systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Dr. Rehn has secured multiple grants, including a 2020 Universities Australia Germany grant to collaborate with Dr. Cathalijn Leenaars on meta-analyses and a 2022 Experimental Psychology Society grant for work with Dominic Dwyer at Cardiff University. Her publications span 2025–2016, emphasizing translational neuroscience and behavioral research.