Postdoctoral Fellowship Program

Throughout his career, Dr. David Herzog – Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School – has endeavored to improve the lives of individuals with eating disorders.  Dr. Herzog was the first Endowed Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Eating Disorders at Harvard Medical School.  He founded and directed the Harvard Eating Disorders Center, which later became the Harris Center for Education and Advocacy in Eating Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). 

Dr. Herzog has been deeply committed to helping young scientists embark on careers in eating disorders.  He established the Matina S. Horner, Ph.D. Research Fellowship in 1997 for college and graduate students.  Beginning in 2007 – as part of his work for the Harris Center at MGH – he also hosted a Postdoctoral Fellowship to train professionals in the specialized treatment of individuals with eating disorders. 

The Postdoctoral Fellowship offered early-career investigators the opportunity to contribute to and learn from the expertise of the Harris Center staff, MGH, and the eating disorders field. In addition to conducting innovative research, Harris Center Postdoctoral Fellows treated individuals with eating disorders under Dr. Herzog’s supervision.

As part of their training, the fellows attended the MGH Department of Psychiatry's Weekly Grand Rounds and played an active role in the meetings of the New England Eating Disorders Research Collaborative, a group of over 25 clinicians and scientists in the greater New England area who come together to share ideas, highlight recent advances in the field, and discuss future directions in research. Postdoctoral fellows also had the opportunity to participate in MGH and Harvard Medical School training sessions, such as a weekly Psychiatric Genetics Seminar and a cognitive behavioral therapy course. 

The Harris Center's first Postdoctoral Fellow (2007-2008) was Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D., an exceptional researcher and clinician. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Eddy carried a full clinical caseload and contributed significantly to the Harris Center's research, particularly through her work in the areas of the classification of eating disorders and the treatment of children and adolescents. During her Fellowship she received two awards for her eating disorders research—the Livingston Award (from Harvard Medical School) and the Clinical Research Day Psychiatry Award (from MGH).

At the completion of her Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Eddy continued under Dr. Herzog’s mentorship.  She is now an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a staff psychologist at MGH.