Rebecca Puhl, PhD

Professor (PI)

Human Development and Family Sciences

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Deputy Director & Senior Research Scientist, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity

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Research Overview

Dr. Rebecca Puhl is Deputy Director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity and Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at UConn. Dr. Puhl is responsible for identifying and coordinating research and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight bias.

Dr. Puhl earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University. She has conducted research on weight bias for 15 years and has published numerous studies on weight-based bullying in youth, weight bias in health care and the media, interventions to reduce weight bias, and the impact of weight stigma on emotional and physical health.

Dr. Puhl has testified in state legislative hearings on weight bias, routinely provides expertise to state and national health organizations, and has developed evidence-based training programs to reduce weight bias that have been implemented in medical facilities across the country.

Dr. Puhl is a leading national expert in the field of weight bias, and her research is routinely publicized in national and international media. She has served on the Council of The Obesity Society and the Board of Directors for the Obesity Action Coalition, and has been recognized for her research with awards including the Excellence in Policy Research Award from the National Eating Disorders Coalition.

Education

Ph.D. Yale University, Clinical Psychology May 2004
M.Phil. Yale University, Psychology December 2002
M.S. Yale University, Psychology December 2001
B.A.H. Queen’s University (Major: Psychology) May 1999

Recent/Selected Publications

Research Gate