National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders
Our Mission
NCEED is the nation’s first center of excellence dedicated to eating disorders. Founded in 2018 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, our mission is to advance education and training of healthcare providers and to promote public awareness of eating disorders and eating disorder treatment.
Based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NCEED includes clinicians, researchers, and advocates who specialize in eating disorder care. We are committed to providing up-to-date, reliable, and evidence-based information.
Our goal is to ensure that all individuals with eating disorders are identified, treated, and supported in recovery. Though eating disorders are serious conditions, they can be identified and treated effectively – particularly when providers and the public have the knowledge and skills necessary to make a difference.
Click here for a PDF overview of NCEED!
LEADERSHIP
NCEED Leadership Team
Christine Peat, PhD, FAED, LP
Director
Dr. Christine Peat is the Director of the National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (NCEED) and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jean Doak, PhD
Deputy Director
Dr. Jean Doak is a Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical Director in the Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Cynthia Bulik, PhD, FAED
Senior Faculty
Dr. Cynthia M. Bulik is the Founding Director of the University of North Carolina Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders.
NCEED Content Experts
Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodríguez, PhD, FAED
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Read Full Bio
Dr. Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodríguez is a Clinical Professor at the Center of Excellence of Eating Disorders (CEED) in the Psychiatry Department of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED) and Content Expert for the National Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders (NCEED). As a researcher and clinical psychologist, she has devoted her clinical research career to adapting eating disorder treatments for the Latino community. She worked in Puerto Rico during her early career and later with the Latino community on the mainland, primarily in Central North Carolina. She has published numerous papers and book chapters on cultural adaptation to reduce health disparity and enhance treatment accessibility. She is actively involved in the Latino community as a columnist in one of the main Latino newspapers in North Carolina, La Noticia. Her articles provide psychoeducation on mental health to raise awareness and reduce health disparities. Dr. Reyes-Rodríguez is the Editor-in-Chief of the Puerto Rican Journal of Psychology.
Ellen Rome, MD, MPH
Read Full Bio
Dr. Ellen Rome is the Head of the Center for Adolescent Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Children’s and Professor of Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case. Among the first in the U.S. to be board certified in Adolescent Medicine, Dr. Rome graduated magna cum laude from Yale, received her medical degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, did her residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins, then completed a three year fellowship in adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital, Boston. She also received her Masters in Public Health from Harvard University.
Dr. Rome is a past president of both the North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) and its umbrella organization with over 6,000 members, the International Federation for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (FIGIJ). She has served on the Committee on Adolescence and the Committee on Nutrition for the AAP, chaired the Subcommittee on Eating Disorders for the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM), and chaired the Public Health and the Media Committees and serves on the Medical Care Task Force for the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED). Dr. Rome’s research interests include eating disorders, obesity, reproductive health, and preventive care. She has been an invited speaker locally, nationally, and internationally.
Lesley Williams, MD
Read Full Bio
Dr. Lesley Williams is a board certified Family Medicine physician and eating disorders expert. She received her medical degree from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Dr. Williams gives national and international lectures on various topics related to eating disorders and is recognized as a clinician leader in the field. Dr. Williams serves on the Academy for Eating Disorders executive board of directors. Her professional passions include midlife care for women, health equity advocacy and weight inclusivity education. She is the award-winning author of the children’s book, Free to Be Me: Self Love For All Sizes and contributing author to How to Nourish Yourself Through an Eating Disorder.
Patrick Butler, PhD
Read Full Bio
Patrick Butler is a faculty social worker at CEED working primarily with adolescent and young adult patients and their families. From 2013-2023, he was the Director of Mental Health Services in Adolescent Medicine at The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Prior to moving to Oklahoma to initiate their disordered eating program, he held a similar position in Adolescent Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.
