Student Research Team Examines Science Behind Bulimia

According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, an estimated 1.1 percent to 4.2 percent of females suffer from bulimia nervosa — the psychological eating disorder — at some point in their lifetime. Science has yet to determine a definitive cause for the disorder.

This summer, Emily Panza, a psychology major from Shelton, Conn., hopes to make inroads into understanding bulimia. As part of a Holy Cross research team led by Jumi Hayaki, assistant professor of psychology, she will examine the role of emotion dysregulation — a pattern of emotional responses that are poorly modulated and associated with a variety of psychological problems — in eating disorders and substance use disorders.

One of Hayaki’s current projects entails identifying global aspects of emotion dysregulation, as well as specific eating-related cognitions that predict binge-eating and other bulimic symptoms. Panza will work with Angelo Sica ’09, a psychology major from Chester, N.J., on the research project. Their long-term summer research goal is to identify further mechanisms of emotion regulation in disordered eating and substance use patterns.

Panza hopes to gain many skills during the summer research period, which began at the end of May and runs through July 31. One of 59 students engaged in research on campus, she will keep us up-to-date on all of her research developments and about campus life during the summer in a blog.

“My personal goals involve exploring the field of abnormal psychology, advancing my capacity for intellectual discovery, gaining research experience by fully immersing myself in the world of scientific inquiry, learning from both Professor Hayaki and my fellow researchers, and progressing toward my professional aspirations,” she says.

For the rising junior, those aspirations include becoming a psychologist and pursuing a career as either a criminal profiler or a specialist in nutrition/eating disorder therapy.

It will be an eventful summer in science education at Holy Cross. Panza, who is enrolled in the Honors Program, will start working in Beaven Hall and move to Stein Hall because of the continued construction of the Linda and Park B. Smith Laboratories. Also, the 59 summer student researchers — working with faculty members in the departments of biology, chemistry, physics, and psychology — promise to keep things humming.

Related Information:

• Psychology • Integrated Science Complex