Dr. Cheri A. Levinson is an internationally recognized clinical psychologist, researcher, and speaker whose work is redefining how eating disorders and anxiety are understood and treated.
Dr. Levinson is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Louisville, Founder and Director of the Eating Anxiety Treatment (EAT) Laboratory, Founder of the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders, and Founder of Sylvia Precision Health.
Her research integrates clinical psychology, intensive longitudinal assessment, network science, machine learning, digital health technologies, and implementation science to develop treatments tailored to the needs of individual patients. Rather than asking what treatment works on average, her work focuses on identifying what treatment works for whom, when, and why.
Over the course of her career, Dr. Levinson has built one of the nation's leading research programs focused on personalized mental health treatment. Her funded research portfolio exceeds $20.2 million and includes multiple NIH R01 awards, NIH R34 clinical trials, and the prestigious NIH Director's New Innovator Award. She has published 3 books for patients and clinicians on personalized treatment and exposure therapies.
She founded the EAT Laboratory to advance the science of personalized treatment, and the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders to bring that science into direct clinical care - combining scientific innovation with clinical expertise to improve outcomes for patients and families.
Among the first researchers to demonstrate how treatments can be personalized using individual symptom dynamics, behavioral patterns, physiology, and real-time data. This work challenges traditional diagnostic models and forms the basis for a new generation of personalized interventions adapted to each patient's unique needs.
Internationally recognized for applying network science to eating disorders and related conditions, conceptualizing mental illnesses as dynamic systems of interacting symptoms. This framework has fundamentally influenced how researchers study mechanisms of psychopathology and identify treatment targets.
Developed and tested one of the first comprehensive personalized treatments for eating disorders, combining individual symptom networks, ecological momentary assessment, wearable sensors, machine learning, and clinical expertise.
Led multiple clinical trials advancing exposure therapy for eating disorders. The NIH-funded Facing Eating Disorder Fears program developed innovative exposure-based approaches that directly target fear, avoidance, and restrictive eating behaviors.
A hallmark of Dr. Levinson's work is the integration of physiology with psychological processes - examining how heart rate variability, interoception, stress physiology, and wearable sensor data can improve prediction, prevention, and treatment.
Research produces scalable digital interventions designed to increase access to evidence-based treatment - addressing the gap between those who need eating disorder care and those who receive it.
Recent work integrates artificial intelligence and intensive longitudinal data to improve treatment personalization and clinical decision-making - a major step toward learning health systems capable of delivering individualized care at scale.
NIH-funded research investigates how symptom dynamics, physiology, and behavioral processes contribute to suicide risk among individuals with eating disorders, identifying new pathways for prevention and intervention.
The EAT Laboratory supports postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, research staff, undergraduate trainees, and early-career investigators - a national hub for innovation in eating disorder and precision mental health research.
Mentored numerous trainees who have gone on to secure fellowships, faculty positions, and independent funding. Contributed to more than 15 federally funded trainee awards across all career stages.
Booking a speaker, requesting a comment, or exploring a collaboration? I'd love to hear from you.
Get in touch