Tricia M. Leahey

Dr. Tricia Leahey is a Professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Connecticut and Co-Director of the UConn Weight Management Research Group. She specializes in behavioral medicine and lifestyle interventions for obesity treatment, with a focus on m-health/e-health technologies, peer support, and behavioral economics strategies.

• Education:
  • B.A. in Psychology, SUNY Binghamton (2002)
  • M.A. in Clinical Psychology, Kent State University (2004)
  • Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology, Kent State University (2008)
  • Pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Brown Medical School (2008–2010)

Her research spans cost-effective lifestyle interventions for weight loss and maintenance, remote clinical trial methodologies, and behavioral economics applications. Dr. Leahey has led NIH-funded trials examining these strategies in diverse populations and contributed to methodological advancements in behavioral clinical trials.

Notable scientific awards include recognition from international societies like The Obesity Society and the Society of Behavioral Medicine, as well as institutional honors such as UConn’s Teaching Excellence Award and Brown University’s Psychology Research Mentor Award. Her work has been featured in major media outlets including NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine.

Dr. Leahey actively mentors junior researchers through the NIH’s Summer Institute on Randomized Behavioral Clinical Trials and serves on editorial boards for multiple scientific journals. She has reviewed grants for NIH study sections and over 30 journals, contributing to the rigor of behavioral intervention research.