Leigh Brosof Earns NSF Fellowship Honorable Mention

Leigh Brosof received an honorable mention on her National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) submission. The GRFP supports exceptional graduate students in the STEM-related fields. Students are assessed based on the intellectual merit and broader impacts of a proposed study and the individual’s past research experience. For the 2017 awards, only five clinical awards and two honorable mentions were given.

The topic of her proposal was, "Does concern over mistakes impair cognitive control leading to food intake: an experimental study." This study is investigating the effects of perfectionism, specifically concern over mistakes, or the excessive worry over making errors, on cognitive control and eating behavior.  By understanding the relationship between perfectionism, cognitive control, and eating behavior, it may be possible to create better interventions for healthy eating.

Leigh Brosof (B.A. Washington University in St. Louis) entered graduate school in July 2016 and is pursuing her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology at UofL. Her research interests include exploring the etiology of eating disorders and testing novel treatments of eating disorders based on etiological models. Her doctoral mentor is Dr. Cheri Levinson (Eating Anxiety and Treatment Lab: http://www.louisvilleeatlab.com/).