معرفی
Dr. Zeynep Nas is a Research Fellow in Eating Behaviour Research at the Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London (UCL). She obtained a first-class honours degree in psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2017 and proceeded to acquire a prestigious masters and PhD studentship at the Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre at King's College London (2018-2022).
Her educational background includes:
- PhD in Genes, Environment & Development in Psychology & Psychiatry from King's College London
- BSc in Psychology from Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr. Nas's research focuses on eating disorders and how early life factors such as childhood appetite can be associated with eating disorders later on in life. She is particularly interested in selective eating and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), which she has received funding to explore. Her work employs twin studies methodology to understand the genetic and environmental influences on eating behaviors. She is trained in several statistical analysis methods including twin model fitting and regression based models.
Dr. Nas currently co-leads a national early career researcher fellowship group and is the principal lead for the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO) London & South East regional network. Her research spans across biological psychology, behavioral genetics, psychiatry, and behavioral epidemiology with a focus on understanding the developmental pathways to eating disorders.
Her publications demonstrate a consistent research trajectory examining how childhood appetitive traits develop into eating disorders in adolescence, with particular emphasis on emotional eating, fussy eating, and selective eating patterns. The research employs sophisticated twin study methodologies to disentangle nature versus nurture influences on eating behaviors.
She has received recognition for her work through citations across multiple publications, with her research on childhood appetitive traits and eating disorder symptoms gaining significant attention in the scientific community. Her work has been cited by numerous news outlets and social media platforms, indicating its impact beyond academic circles.
Dr. Nas is actively involved in teaching, delivering lectures for MSc health psychology and MSc Eating Disorders & Clinical Nutrition programs at UCL, as well as providing instruction on the genetics of eating disorders. She also assists with marking and supervision of taught course research projects.
