The focus of the research program is the biology of eating disorders

A groundbreaking Monash University-led research program into eating disorders will focus on the biological causes and potential new treatments, including new drugs, brain stimulation and hormones.

The world-class Li Center for Transformational Research in Eating Disorders (THRED) will be coordinated through Monash University’s Australia HER Centre, which was established in 2022 to consolidate and expand research and treatment of women’s mental illness.

Researchers from the HER Center and Monash Central Clinical School’s Department of Neurology will collaborate on the disorders.

An estimated one million Australians, or four per cent, live with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. The THRED program will have three main pillars: providing new, effective treatments, improving current treatments, and uncovering the biological causes.

This was made possible by a generous donation from THRED founders, Chairman of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and former professional violinist David Li AM and his pianist wife Angela Li. They have provided seed funding and the Australian HER Center and Central Clinical School will align their philanthropic vision and goals with generating additional funding to realize THRED’s full potential.

Professor Jayashri Kulkarni AM, director of the HER Center in Australia, said the incidence of eating disorders (EDs) had continued to rise post-Covid-19 and a new approach was needed. She said most treatments focused on talking therapy, but no effective biological treatments had been developed.

“Over the past 60 years, there has been no real change in the treatment of eating disorders, which range from eating disorders to anorexia nervosa,” Professor Kulkarni said.

“We need a new approach. We want to better understand why ED occurs and how to treat it biologically. We will do this through clinical trials investigating potential treatments. These trials will inform research into the biological abnormalities underlying eating disorders.

THRED will conduct clinical trials of new treatments for serious eating disorders and hopefully lead to more effective treatments.

Its clinical trials are expected to begin in the second quarter of 2023. side, it will look at brain stimulation, hormone manipulation and new drug therapies, as well as the development of new treatments as they build on their own and other research in Australia and around the world.

This will involve discovery science revealing the role of genes and proteins in personalized medicine, all linked by new AI-driven smartphone technologies to provide personalized care for people with eating disorders.

Professor Kulkarni said that eating disorders can develop due to biological changes involving genes, RNA and proteins, but there has not been much investment in developing methods to treat brain biology and/or biological factors. She said a holistic approach was needed.

“For too long, eating disorders have been surrounded by ignorance about their cause and a stigma that often blames the person with ED as ‘if only she would eat… the problem would go away,'” Professor Kulkarni said.

“It’s not that simple. These are complex conditions that require multiple solutions. Psychotherapy is important, but does not include the overall picture or the possibility of biological causes.

“The impact of eating disorders has also worsened during Covid, with some people binge eating and others suffering from anorexia. Our condition has high mortality and very high morbidity, but the only available treatments are “talk therapy” which has not given patients the treatment they deserve.

Ultimately, THRED hopes to move into a second phase of research investigating biomarkers that could help define ED subtypes and pave the way for new treatments.

“This program will not be a silver bullet for eating disorders, which are very difficult to treat,” Professor Kulkarni said. “However, our hope is that our focus on biology will lead to improved treatments that will truly make a difference.”

“There has been very little research on biological treatments for eating disorders, and what has been done has been very mixed. We believe this program is unique in Australia and possibly the first in the world to combine neurological research in a clinical setting with a focus on brain stimulation, hormones and new drugs combined with discovery science approaches to uncover underlying causes.

Professor Stephen Jane, Dean of the Sub-Faculty of Translational Medicine and Public Health at Monash University, highlighted the importance of the initiative.

“A new lens for investigating the causes of eating disorders and developing new treatment paradigms is sorely needed—the combination of discovery science and clinical research is a unique approach that we believe will positively change the landscape for eating disorders.” disorders,” he said.