Speakers
Session
A condition many families navigate privately — brought into the open with clinical authority.
Purpose: This session brings an authoritative clinical and research voice to a condition many families encounter but rarely discuss openly — and positions eating disorders within the addiction framework that current science increasingly supports.
Discussion: What eating disorders are now understood to be at a clinical level, why the addiction framing matters for both treatment and family response, and what the evidence actually supports for families navigating this.
Outcomes: You'll leave with a clearer picture of the current clinical landscape, language for conversations within your own family or networks if this is relevant to you, and a sense of where catalytic philanthropy could genuinely shift treatment and research outcomes.
Associate Professor Andrea Phillipou is a Principal Research Fellow in Eating Disorders at Orygen and The Centre for Youth Mental Health at The University of Melbourne.
She is the Head of Eating Disorders Research and leads the Scientific Work in Anorexia Nervosa and Other Eating Disorders (SWAN) Research Group.
Andrea's research is mainly focused on improving the lives of people with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. Her research uses comprehensive neurobiological, biological, psychological and socio-cultural influences: understanding factors in development, early diagnosis, effective interventions and care of those with eating disorders.