Current Projects

ENACT
Project Type: Grant funded
Project Description: This study compares 3 different treatments focused on weight loss and weight loss maintenance in overweight adults. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three conditions, all of which are designed to help participants lose weight and keep it off long-term. The treatments vary in terms of how much they emphasize different skills that help people to lose weight. Over the course of the one-year intervention, participants attend weekly group-based sessions for 4 months, bi-weekly sessions for the next 2 months, and monthly sessions for the last 6 months. They then attend follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months post-treatment. Analyses will test whether there are any differences between the three conditions in degree of weight loss maintenance obtained over the follow-up period.

Project Began: Fall, 2011
Anticipated End Date: Spring, 2016

College ED Prevention Effectiveness
Project Type: NIH R01 Grant
Project Description:This study evaluates the effectiveness of a dissonance-based eating disorder
prevention program developed by Eric Stice, Ph.D. when delivered under ecologically valid conditions.
Participants receive either a 4-session program designed to induce cognitive dissonance surrounding the
thin-ideal or psychoeducational brochures about eating disorders and healthy body image. Participants
are followed for two years after completion of the program or receipt of the brochures.
Project Began: Spring, 2009
Anticipated End Date: Spring, 2014

Nutritrol: A Test of Nutritional Interventions to Enhance Weight Loss Maintenance
Project Type: NIH R01 Grant
Project Description:This study compares 3 different treatments focused on weight loss and weight loss maintenance in overweight adults. Participants are randomly assigned to one of three conditions, all of which are designed to help participants lose weight and keep it off long-term. The treatments vary in terms of how they help participants to change the nutritional makeup of their diet. Over the course of the one-year intervention, participants attend weekly group-based sessions for 6 months and bi-weekly sessions for the next 6 months.They then attend follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 months post-treatment. Analyses will test whether there are any differences between the three conditions in degree of weight loss maintenance obtained over the follow-up period.
Project Began: Fall, 2009
Anticipated End Date: Spring, 2014

Weight Loss Maintenance in Primary Care
Project Type: NIH R01 Grant
Project Description: This study compares weight loss maintenance strategies for obese individuals referred through their primary care physicians. All participants lost weight in the same manner, using a combination of meal replacements and prescribed snacks and dinners. After the weight loss phase, participants were randomized to one of four weight loss maintenance interventions, formed by crossing two factors: 1) continued use of meal replacements or not, and 2) introduction of a reduced energy density eating program or not. Participants will be followed up to two years after completion of the maintenance intervention.
Project Began: Fall, 2003
Anticipated End Date: Fall, 2009

An Adaptation of CBT for Eating Disorders
Project Type: NIH R34 Grant
Project Description: This study compares cognitive behavioral treatment to treatment at usual at a local eating disorder clinic. Participants are assessed at discharge and 6-month follow-up.
Project Began: Winter, 2006
Anticipated End Date: Winter, 2009

Prevention of Obesity at Universities
Project Type: NIH RO1 Grant
Project Description: This study is evaluating the effectiveness of a weight gain prevention program in college students. First year students are randomly assigned to either 6 sessions of training in healthy weight control skills or to a no intervention (control) group. Analyses will test whether the intervention reduces risk for weight gain, improves the nutritional composition of students’ diets, and decreases disordered eating over a 2-year follow-up period.
Project Began: Fall, 2006
Anticipated End Date: Spring, 2010

Brain Activation in Response to Food Cues in Three Types of Dieters: an fMRI Study
Project Type: Masters Thesis
Project Description:The aim of this study is to examine differences in brain activation in response to highly palatable food cues between individuals who have frequently dieted in the past and those who have never dieted, both before and after eating. The effects of being currently on a diet to lose weight are also explored.
Project Began:October, 2009
Anticipated End Date:September, 2011

Toward a Better Understanding of the Development of Overweight: A Study of Eating Behavior in the Natural Environment using Ecological Momentary Assessment
Project Type: Graduate Dissertation
Project Description: The primary aim of this study is to investigate how trait-like characteristics of individuals (e.g., sensitivity to the food environment, dietary restraint) interact with momentary characteristics of individuals and the environment (mood, number of palatable foods present during an eating episode) to predict episodes of overeating that may lead to weight gain. Momentary characteristics of the individual and the environment are assessed via handheld electronic devices (i.e., PalmPilots).
Project Began: Spring, 2008
Anticipated End Date: Winter, 2008

Body Fat Deposition in College-Aged Women: A Preliminary Investigation of a Possible Biological Predictor of Eating Disturbance and Weight Gain
Project Type: Masters Thesis
Project Description: The aim of this study is to examine the cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between body fat
(both total body fat percentage and body fat deposition in the trunk region), eating disturbance, and weight gain in an archival dataset of female college freshman who were followed for two years.
Project Began: November 2010
Anticipated End Date: October 2011

Drive to be Thin and Resistance to Normal Weight: On the Motivation for Dieting in Anorexic and Bulimic Individuals
Project Type: Graduate Dissertation
Project Began: September, 2008
Anticipated End Date: June, 2009

Predictors of Attrition by Race in Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White Women Seeking Weight Loss Treatment for Obesity
Project Type: Masters Thesis
Project Description: The first aim of this study is to determine if there is a significant difference in attrition rates between non-Hispanic black and non-Hispanic white obese women seeking treatment for weight loss in the Philadelphia area. The second aim of this study is to determine if there are significant differences in predictors of attrition between these two racial/ethnic groups by looking at the following variables: cognitive restraint, disinhibition, hunger, body satisfaction, quality of life, self-efficacy, physical activity, binge eating, and psychological vulnerability to the food environment.
Project Began: March, 2008
Anticipated End Date: March, 2009

Lowe Labs is an active research center dedicated to furthering our understanding of eating behavior and weight management through constant study.

In order to conduct our research, we often seek participants both from within Drexel University and from Philadelphia and the surrounding area. If you would like to participate in a Lowe Labs study, please contact us at jena at lowelabs.com. Please note that not all studies are currently recruiting participants. All participants are compensated for their time.