Lab Members
Faculty
Dr. C. Alix Timko, PhD (she/her)
Principal Investigator
timkoc@chop.edu
267-426-5467
Dr. C. Alix Timko is an Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is Director of Psychiatric and Behavioral Health Research in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also faculty in PolicyLab, where she serves as the faculty lead for the Adolescent Health and Well-being Portfolio. Her current work focuses on eating disorders in adolescents, specifically understanding risk factors for a longer course of illness and developing/refining treatments.
A former Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Scholar, the role of sex as a biological variable underscores most of her work. Ongoing projects include a focus on neuro-cognition, reward circuitry, and what role they play (separately and together) in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa. She is actively examining sex differences in social reward in adolescents with anorexia nervosa as well as the role of role of sex hormones and inflammation in the development and/or maintenance of anorexia. Recently, she has extended her research interests to the microbiome and its role in eating disorder maintenance and recovery.
Dr. Timko's clinical research examines the potential benefits of using Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) as an adjunctive treatment to gold-standard family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescents with eating disorders. Her treatment-focused work also includes the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in the treatment of eating disorders and using ACT-informed health coaching to positively impact a variety of health behaviors.
Research Psychologist
Dr. Marita Cooper, PhD (she/her)
Dr. Marita Cooper received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Australian National University where her research examined muscle dysmorphia and muscularity-oriented disordered eating. Dr. Cooper serves on the editorial board for the International Journal for Eating Disorders and Eating Disorders: Journal of Treatment of Prevention. She has extensive experience in treating eating disorders across the lifespan, including specialized training in Family Based Therapy (FBT) and Enhanced Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT-e). Dr. Cooper is an author of the Safe Exercise at Every Stage guideline, supporting healthy return to exercise for those with an eating disorder, and has presented research on dysfunctional exercise, muscularity-oriented disordered eating, and medical complications of anorexia nervosa at conferences for the Academy for Eating Disorders, Eating Disorders Research Society, and the Australian and New Zealand Academy for Eating Disorders. Her recent research focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms of Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.
Post-doctoral Fellow
Dr. Samantha Turner, PhD, RN (she/her)
Dr. Turner received her nursing degree and PhD in nursing from UMass Chan Medical School. There, her research focused on weight stigma in pediatric healthcare and eating disorder treatment, as well as policy approaches to reduce the prevalence of disordered weight control behaviors among children and adolescents. Clinically, Samantha has worked as a pediatric nurse in primary care, school settings, and outpatient eating disorder programs. In her free time, she enjoys camping, baking, and spending time with her husband, son, and two dogs.
Research Team
William Brake, BA (he/him)
Clinical Research Assistant
brakew@chop.edu
William Brake graduated from William & Mary in 2022 with departmental honors in English. He has worked as a research assistant at Temple University’s Mood and Cognition Lab. He is currently the primary research coordinator on the Shifting Perspectives Study. William will be pursuing a Psy.D. in clinical psychology starting in the fall of 2025. He enjoys hanging out with friends, hiking, and reading in his spare time.
Emily Ferrer, BA (she/her)
Clinical Research Assistant
ferrere@chop.edu
Emily Ferrer is a Clinical Research Assistant. She supports five different studies in lab, including one focused on interoception in ARFID. She graduated from Montclair State University with a BA in Psychology and Justice Studies in May 2023 - Emily will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (Fall 2025) with a focus on restrictive eating disorders, the effects of malnutrition on the body, the role of interoception in eating disorder risk and maintenance, and the treatment for eating disorders in adolescence and young adults. In her free time she loves to go on hikes with her rescue dog, Rummy, baking, cooking, camping, and going out with friends.
Graduate Research Assistants
Heather Keyser, MA (she/her)
Heather is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program at La Salle University. She completed her undergraduate degree in 2018 at Lafayette College. Her research and clinical interests are in eating disorder treatment and clinical health psychology. She has previous research experience working at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Studies of Addiction. In her free time, Heather enjoys trying new restaurants in Philadelphia and spending time with her family and friends.
Rosie Gertzman, BA
Rosie is currently pursuing her PsyD in Clinical Psychology at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Health. Previously, she received her BA in Psychology and Cultural Anthropology at Emory University. Broadly, her clinical interests focus on the treatment and prevention of eating disorders among underserved youth and their families. Rosie’s current research explores initiatives aimed at preventing eating disorders among young athletes. Rosie values compassionate, evidence-based, and goal-oriented care to support youth and their families. In her free time, she enjoys exploring coffee shops, walking her dog, and spending time with family and friends.
Maggie Maurer, MA, MSEd
Maggie is a graduate student at LaSalle University where she is pursuing her PsyD in clinical psychology.
Alexis Libert
Alexis Libert is a counseling psychology doctoral student at Felician University. Her research and clinical interests focus on mental health care access and advancing the development and delivery of more accessible and equitable eating disorder treatment. Alexis also has clinical experience in residential substance use treatment, and as a study provider for health psychology clinical trials within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In her free time, she enjoys reading, jogging, and walking her dogs.
Jiana Schnabel
Jiana Schnabel is a doctoral student pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Temple University under the mentorship of Dr. Lauren Alloy. She graduated from Tufts University in 2020 with a BS in Psychology and Economics. Her research interests include the neurobiology of eating and mood disorders. She is interested in the role of neurocognition and reward system processing in the onset and maintenance of eating and mood disorders. In her free time, Jiana enjoys running, spending time outdoors, and checking out all of Philly's awesome coffee shops and restaurants!
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Sydney Finkelstein
Sydney is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania studying Biology on the pre-med track. She joined the Timko Research Group in the spring of 2025 as a Research Assistant and plans to pursue a career in medicine, with particular interests in pediatrics and women’s health. Outside of class, she is involved in SNUGS (Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons) and Club Swim. In her free time, she enjoys spin classes, exploring new restaurants, and spending time with her two Jack Russell terriers.
Jasleen Kaur
Undergraduate Research - Independent Study Student
Jasleen is currently an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania studying neuroscience on the pre-med track. Specifically interested in pediatrics, she has assisted with several research studies in the Infectious Disease, Gastroenterology, Neurosurgery, Adolescent Medicine, and General Pediatrics departments at CHOP. Jasleen joined the Timko Research Group to combine her passion for pediatrics and neuroscience, focusing on exploring the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder and Anorexia Nervosa. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new coffee shops and spending time with her friends and family
Lauren Greenberg
Remote Research Assistant
Lauren Greenberg is an undergraduate at Lehigh University with an interest to pursue a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience. Her interests include studying the effectiveness of treatment for body dysmorphic disorder, as well as understanding risk factors for anorexia nervosa and patients with comorbidities such as OCD and Major Depressive Disorder. Outside of class, Lauren’s passion is to spread awareness and reduce the stigma of eating disorders within the community. A Summer 2024 Intern, Lauren continues to collaborate with the team and assists with remote data scoring. Lauren enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, hiking, and exploring the Philadelphia food scene.
Sydney Sharkey
Remote Research Assistant - High School
Sydney Sharkey is a senior at Marymount School in New York. She is interested in understanding more about eating disorders scientifically and how early detection can result in better outcomes after working on equitable access to eating disorder treatment with Project HEAL. A 2024 High School Intern with TRG, she is assisting with a systematic review on physical activity. In her free time, she enjoys weightlifting and playing with her dogs.
Summer 2025 Interns
Grace Haase
Summer Graduate Research Fellow
Grace Haase is a doctoral student working with Dr. Julia Hormes at University at Albany - State University of New York. She has a long history with the Timko Research Group. She first worked with TRG in summer of 2019 as an intern. She later returned and worked as a research assistant on the Shifting Perspectives Study. She is interested in co-morbidity in with eating disorders, intolerance of uncertainty, and the relationship between eating disorders and athletics, particularly within the running community. She enjoys jogging and spending time with her friends and family.
