Maija B. Bruzas, PhD

Maija B. Bruzas, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, working with Kelly C. Allison, Ph.D. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Villanova University, her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Northern Arizona University, and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Bowling Green State University. She completed her pre-doctoral clinical internship at Indiana University School of Medicine. She has co-led multiple behavioral weight loss groups and has worked in various areas of health psychology, including: bariatrics, behavioral sleep medicine, organ transplant, behavioral pain management, and cardiovascular and pulmonary psychology.  Dr. Bruzas currently works on research projects, conducts bariatric surgery evaluations, and sees individual psychotherapy clients for behavioral weight loss and the treatment of binge eating disorder, night eating syndrome, bulimia nervosa, and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.

Dr. Bruzas is currently working on research projects led by Dr. Kelly Allison that examine the influence of the timing of eating on weight and metabolism and the use of liraglutide for binge eating disorder.  Dr. Bruzas' previous research has investigated the incorporation of mindfulness and self-compassion into health behavior change interventions, food craving management and measurement, the association between night eating and weight, and parent feeding strategies. 

Dr. Bruzas can be contacted at: the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, 3535 Market St., Suite 3021, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 215-898-4793. Her e-mail address is maija.bruzas@pennmedicine.upenn.edu

Recent publications include:

Bruzas, M.B. & Allison, K.C. (2019). A review of the relationship between night eating syndrome and body mass index. Current Obesity Reports. [Epub ahead of print]. doi.org/10.1007/s13679-019-00331-7

Taylor, M.B. (2019). A review of food craving measures. Eating Behaviors, 32, 101-110. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2019.01.005.

Horan, K., & Taylor, M.B. (2018) Mindfulness and self-compassion as tools in health behavior change: An evaluation of a workplace intervention. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 8, 8-16. doi: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2018.02.003