Nancy Zucker PhD
Director, Duke Center for Eating Disorders
Dr. Zucker is the Founder and Director of the Duke Center for Eating Disorders (DCED), a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University School of Medicine, and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. The DCED, under her leadership, strives to be one of the foremost centers in the country for the creation and dissemination of state-of-the-art treatments for individuals with eating disorders. A cornerstone of these intervention efforts is helping individuals to trust and feel safe in their bodies - to learn that their bodies are incredibly smart and protective partners. To do so, we often start in early development. Thus, much of our recent work is with young children – particularly those that have some potential vulnerability that may make body sensations scary or overwhelming. Examples include children with pain, children with intense sensory sensitivities, or children with a medical condition that weakens a child’s sense of body trust. A theme of these interventions is teaching children how to self-parent – a dance with oneself in which one tunes into the body, decodes what the body is communicating, and reliably responds to these messages: much like a parent would do for a young child. The lab has a strong family-focus in our interventions. We aim to minimize the stress placed on families while strengthening the impact of our interventions by integrating the family as active collaborators. Finally, we strive to get our interventions out to as many individuals as possible to help build a world in which people living vitally in their bodies inspire others to dance with themselves.
Richard Chung MD
Medical Director, Duke Center for Eating Disorders
Dr. Chung is the Section Chief of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine and a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. He received his A.B. degree in Cognitive Neuroscience from Harvard University and his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Chung then trained in pediatrics and internal medicine at Duke University Medical Center and adolescent and young adult medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital prior to returning to Duke. Dr. Chung serves as the Medical Director of the Duke Center for Eating Disorders, overseeing medical services and supporting research efforts within the Center. Dr. Chung is board certified in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Adolescent Medicine.
Laura Weisberg PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Weisberg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders since 1982. Dr. Weisberg received her BA from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and her PhD from the University of Maryland-College Park. Before coming to Duke, she was a Clinical Associate in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She also was Director of the Eating Disorders Program at Westwood Lodge Hospital for 10 years. Dr. Weisberg has trained in psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, and mindfulness based therapies, and has a special interest in the application of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy and somatically oriented therapies in the treatment of eating disorders. Her current interests center on understanding change processes in psychotherapy, and the interface between trauma and eating disorders.
Melanie Trost MD
Assistant Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health
Dr. Trost enjoys working in Student Health because it allows her to focus on her medical interests – women’s health, family planning, sports medicine, dermatology, travel medicine, and eating and body image concerns. She enjoys being a primary care provider for students because of the unique opportunities to help newly independent health care consumers navigate a complex health care system. At Student Health she oversees the International Travel Clinic and is a medical provider for Duke Center for Eating Disorders. In her free time, Melanie enjoys biking, kayaking, reading, gardening and playing with her family. Dr. Trost attended Medical School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed her residency in Family Medicine here at Duke University. She spends her time working for Duke Student Health and has been working conjointly with the DCED since 2004.
Betty Staples MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Associate Director of Graduate Medical Education
Dr. Betty Staples is a Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Director of Graduate Medical Education (GME) at Duke University Hospital and Health System. Her clinical care focuses on adolescents and her research has focused on wellbeing in GME trainees. She has been working with DCED for 18 years.
Noga Zerubavel PhD
Assistant Consulting Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Zerubavel is a licensed psychologist and Assistant Consulting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. She is also co-founder of Arise Psychological Wellness and Consulting, a private practice dedicated to trauma-informed care. Dr. Zerubavel specializes in the incorporation of mindfulness-based approaches into advanced behavioral therapies. Her clinical work focuses on working with individuals who have experienced trauma, often experiencing trauma sequelae that include eating disorders as well as mood, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders. She uses exposure-based treatment integrated with mindfulness-based techniques to help individuals expand their food repertoires and address disordered eating. She is active in providing trainings for mental health professionals, physicians, and other health care providers on treatment of trauma, mindfulness-based interventions, and addressing burnout through a trauma-informed lens. Her scholarly work has focused on trauma, dissociation, mindfulness-based interventions, and clinical education.
Patricia Gammon PhD
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Gammon is a licensed psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center.
Marla Wald MD
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Wald is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Associate Residency Director for Psychiatry, Director of Residency Psychotherapy Training, an adult and child & adolescent psychiatrist.
Chantal Gil PsyD
Clinical Director, Duke Center for Eating Disorders
Dr. Gil is a Licensed Psychologist and the Clinical Director of the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. She has extensive training in the assessment and treatment of eating disorders in adolescents and adults. Dr. Gil received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 2010, her MA in Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine from Boston University School of Medicine in 2013, and her PsyD from William James College in 2018. She completed her APA internship at North Carolina State University’s Counseling Center and her postdoc at the Duke Center for Eating Disorders. She has special interests in body image and disordered eating throughout the peripartum period as well as working with the university population, focusing on identity development and interpersonal relationships. Her therapeutic approach is collaborative, evidence-based, and holistic in nature. With relational therapy as her foundation, she uses cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and elements of somatic experiencing to supplement treatment.
Leigh Spivey-Rita PhD
Medical Instructor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Spivey-Rita is a licensed psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Spivey-Rita received her BS from Duke University in 2012, her MS from the University of Utah in 2016, and her PhD in clinical psychology from UNC Chapel Hill in 2020. In the Duke Center for Eating Disorders, Dr. Spivey-Rita provides outpatient therapy for children, adolescents, young adults, and their families. She has special interest and expertise in working with transgender, nonbinary, and gender exploring individuals who may be experiencing disordered eating or body image concerns. Dr. Spivey-Rita uses a gender-affirming approach to provide evidence-based treatment for a range of presenting concerns.