Eating disorders impact around 8% of the world’s population. They significantly impact mental and physical health and are some of the most fatal psychiatric illnesses. Eating disorders can be experienced by people of any age, gender identity, body size, sexuality, or cultural background. It is not just young girls experiencing anorexia nervosa.
Our knowledge of the causes of eating disorders is still limited. It is a complex interaction of genetic, biological, psychological, and social factors. Without understanding exactly how these factors interact, we cannot develop the most effective treatments, including those using digital health approaches.
There is so much expertise and knowledge in eating disorders across the globe and by uniting our efforts, we increase our chances of unlocking breakthroughs and developing cures. This is why Professor Gemma Sharp led the team to establish the Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders (CoRe-ED), officially launched in September 2024 in Melbourne, Australia.
CoRe-ED is a first-of-its-kind international not-for-profit initiative that brings together all people involved in eating disorders research – researchers, clinicians, people with lived experience, advocates, not-for-profit and industry representatives – globally. For more information, see our website here.
CoRe-ED’s mission is to promote innovations in eating disorders research by empowering all voices and ultimately creating new therapies for all people experiencing eating disorders. We have had hundreds of people from over 20 countries register for CoRe-ED for free (see here for more information) to network, collaborate, advocate, learn and contribute to world leading research.
Digital health solutions have already and will continue to play a critical role in eating disorder prevention, treatment and recovery (e.g., CoRe-ED’s partners NEDIC with JEM™ Chatbot and Bright Therapeutics with Recovery Record). There are nowhere near enough health professionals, peer support workers and other key people trained in eating disorder care the world over for the scope of the issue. Digital health solutions are necessary!
CoRe-ED looks forward to a flourishing partnership with eMHIC to help progress much needed innovations in digital health care for eating disorders and related issues. Tune into our CoRe-ED/eMHIC webinar in May 2025 – more details to come!
