Health Behaviors Laboratory
WELCOME!
The primary focus of work in our lab is the PSYCHOLOGY OF HUMAN FOOD CHOICE BEHAVIOR, with the overarching aim to gain a better understanding of why we eat what we eat when we eat it. We study both pathological and non-pathological aspects of eating behavior, including eating disorders, food cravings, and food avoidance (in particular of meat and other animal products). We are interested in links between eating behavior and reproductive states (e.g., the perimenstrum and pregnancy) and emphasize the importance of understanding individual behavior around food and eating within the broader sociocultural context. We develop, implement, and evaluate NOVEL INTERVENTIONS TARGETING DISORDERED EATING BEHAVIORS, DIET, AND NUTRITION, with a specific focus on tailoring these interventions to benefit traditionally underserved and marginalized populations and ensuring that they can be scaled easily and disseminated widely.​​​
Additional projects in the lab examine other health-promoting and health-compromising behaviors related to food intake and body image (e.g., exercise), substance use and misuse, and non-substance/ behavioral addictions. Much of our work is interdisciplinary in nature, incorporating approaches from clinical, social, and cultural psychology, quantitative methods, ingestive physiology, the biological bases of addiction, and public health.
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Dr. Hormes has a long-standing interest in the study of the STATUS OF WOMEN IN ACADEMIA and conducts research to identify and eliminate barriers to the successful retention of women in academic careers.
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As a natural extension of our devotion to good science and ethics and as part of our commitment to furthering knowledge, fulfilling our educational mission, and providing psychological services to our community, the Clinical Psychology Program seeks to promote diversity in all forms. Our lab similarly values and celebrates diversity, knowing that awareness of, and sensitivity to a wide range of perspectives and ways of life make us better and more effective researchers and clinicians. Our lab welcomes people of any race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, ancestry, age, veteran status, or disability.
Dr. Hormes will be reviewing applications for admission to our clinical psychology Ph.D. training program in the fall of 2025.
LAB NEWS
Congratulations to McKenzie Miller, who successfully defended her dissertation entitled "The Transdiagnostic Role and Measurement of Cognitive Inflexibility Across Understudied Eating Disorder Groups: A Multi-Method Investigation" and is moving on to a postdoctoral position at Albany Medical Center!
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Congratulations to Christina Sanzari and Susana Cruz Garcia, who matched for their predoctoral clinical internships at the Charleston Consortium and the Atlanta VA!
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Congratulations to HBL grad Arielle Wolinsky, Ph.D., who is now a member of the clinical team at MindWell!
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Congratulations to HBL grad Courtney Breiner, Ph.D., who was awarded the NEDA GFED Early Investigators Research Grant to study a new model of habit training intervention for adolescent eating pathology.
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Congratulations to HBL grad Sydney Yurkow, Ph.D., who won the prize for Best International Journal of Eating Disorders original research paper published in 2023 by an early career scholar.
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DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
The Health Behaviors Laboratory is located in the Department of Psychology at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Dr. Hormes and the doctoral students in the lab are part of the clinical psychology training program, which integrates scientific and professional training in a series of didactic, practicum, and research experiences. Training focuses primarily on a social learning approach to behavior, with cognitive and more strictly behavioral approaches also represented. The goal of our training program is to prepare our students for eventual roles as research scientists, academics, clinicians, and problem solvers in the public and/or private sphere. You can learn more about the Department of Psychology here. You can read about the clinical training program here.
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