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Meet the team

Head of Research

Nadia Micali, MD, MRCPsych, PhD, FAED

Nadia is Head of research in Eating Disorders and Head of CEDaR. Read more.

Psychotherapy research team

Anne Bryde Christensen, PhD (Line Manager)

Anne is Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen and Senior Researcher with a background in clinical psychology. After finishing her PhD in Psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, Anne continued her postdoc work investigating patients experiences of group psychotherapy in Region Zealand. Anne has narrowed her focus to Psychotherapy for eating disorders. Her research interests are group psychotherapy, common factors influencing outcomes, personalized psychotherapy, the therapeutic alliance, therapist effects and attachment.

Dorthe Alice Andersen Waage

Dorthe is a research assistant and PhD student at the University of Copenhagen. After her Master's degree in Psychology at the same University, she has previously worked as a research assistent at Bispebjerg Hospital, where she took part in studying long-term effects on young people with eating disorders receiving family-based treatment. Her background includes work in both the psychiatric units and rehabilitation of eating disorders. Her fields of interest include clinical psychology, family therapy and qualitative research.

Signe Marie Hugger

Signe is a research assistant and a PhD student with a background in Clinical Psychology. She completed her MSc in Psychology at the University of Copenhagen. Her main fields of interest include psychotherapeutic treatment of mental health problems, emotion regulation, and quantitative research. She is especially interested in psychotherapy for eating disorders and investigating what works for whom.

Mathilde Hasselby-Andersen

Mathilde is a research assistant and a PhD student with a Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Copenhagen. Her background spans psychotherapy research and experience as a clinical psychologist at a psychiatric unit treating a broad spectrum of diagnoses. Her main interests are clinical psychology, qualitative research, eating disorders, and she is committed to understanding the complexities surrounding mental health challenges and their treatments.

Linda Lloyd Hughes

Linda is Administrative Project Manager of the HALO project and has a background in Health promotion and Psychology. She has a Bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy and holds an interdisciplinary MSc in Health from the University of Roskilde (Denmark). Her main research interests lie within the psychological aspects of eating disorders and recovery with a focus on prevention, and promotion of welfare of sufferers, using qualitative and mixed-method approaches.

Brain & Body team

	Edoardo Pappaianni, PhD (Line Manager) Edoardo is a postdoctoral researcher with a background in Psychology and a PhD in Affective Neuroscience obtained at the University of Trento (Italy). Since 2019 he has been working in the field of clinical neuroscience aiming to elucidate the neural bases of eating and feeding disorders by capitalizing on several neuroimaging techniques (e.g., structural/functional MRI) as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Geneva. His research interests cover neuroimaging, neuropsychology, cognitive, and affective neuroscience.
	Sara Haydar, PhD Sara is a postdoctoral fellow with a master’s degree in human nutrition from Saint Joseph University (Lebanon) and a PhD in biology and health from Montpellier University (France). During her PhD and postdoctoral fellowships in the USA and Denmark, she focused on bridging multiple disciplines, including human nutrition and genetics. Her research has centered on exploring the interactions between nutritional and genetic factors and their impact on the metabolic profiles in complex disorders. By joining CEDaR, she aims to expand her research to better understand the interplay between metabolic and physiological factors in eating disorders.
	Stefana Darvariu Stefana is a research assistant and a PhD student with a background in Nutrition and Exercise Sciences. She has a Bachelor in Sport and Exercise Sciences from the University of Birmingham (UK) and an MSc in Human Nutrition from the University of Copenhagen. She has a strong interest in understanding metabolic shifts and microbiome changes underlying eating disorders.
	Helene Heitmann Hornnæss Helene is a research assistant with a master’s degree in Human Neuroscience from University of Turku (Finland) and a bachelor’s degree in Health Informatics from University of Copenhagen. Her training includes neuroimaging and behavioral research methods, with experience in multimodal data analysis, and she has contributed to a translational neuroscience project investigating neural circuits related to addiction. Her main research interests include brain–behavior relationships, psychiatric neuroscience, and the use of neuroimaging to better understand neural bases and risk and resilience factors in eating disorders.
	Sara Maria Gerstmayer Sara is a research assistant with a background in Human Nutrition. She holds a BSc in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Bonn (Germany) and an MSc in Human Nutrition from the University of Copenhagen. During her MSc, she worked on a clinical research project in collaboration with Rigshospitalet investigating gastric emptying in healthy adults. At CEDaR, she supports clinical studies on eating disorders and the gut microbiome, with a particular interest in the links between nutrition, metabolism, and mental health.

Epidemiological and genetics studies team

	Susanne Vinkel Koch, PhD (Line Manager) Susanne is a senior researcher and consultant in child and adolescent psychiatry and an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen. She also obtained her medical degree and PhD from the University of Copenhagen. Clinically, she has worked for several years with eating disorders in Region H and Region Zealand. In her research, she works in epidemiology using Danish registries and clinical and population-based databases to investigate mental health development in youh and its transition into adulthood. The focus has been on risk and resilience factors in the development and course of eating disorders. Furthermore, she has participated in validation studies on OCD, ADHD, and eating disorder diagnoses in the Danish Patient Register. © Foto Michel van Steenwijk
	Elena Jansen, PhD Elena is a senior researcher with a background in behavioral nutrition. Since gaining her PhD in exercise and nutrition sciences in Australia, she has worked in Austria, the US and now Denmark, and gained interdisciplinary expertise in prevention science, spanning multiple health behaviors across childhood and different cultural contexts. Elena’s research focuses on the identification of early-life risk factors of child developmental trajectories utilizing cohort studies and implementation of longitudinal interventions that promote physical and mental resilience in children and their families.
	Helena Lucy Davis, PhD Helena is a postdoctoral researcher with a background in psychology and psychiatric genetics. Previously, she completed a MSc in Genes, Environment, and Development in Psychology and Psychiatry in 2020 and a PhD in Social, Genetic, and Developmental Psychiatry with a focus on eating disorders in 2023, both at King's College London. Her work with CEDaR is focussed on improving our understanding of the genetics of eating disorders, extending beyond anorexia nervosa to binge-type eating disorders. Helena is also interested in researching how best to communicate information about psychiatric genetics to the general public.
	Alice Charlotte Schittek, PhD Alice is a postdoctoral researcher with a background in clinical and social psychology. She completed her PhD at the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), where she investigated how parents' mental health shapes their behaviors toward their children. In her postdoctoral work, Alice has broadened her focus to children and adolescents, examining how different forms of psychopathology emerge across developmental stages. Her research interests center on clinically relevant developmental trajectories of psychopathology in both adults and youth, with a particular emphasis on longitudinal approaches.
	Stefana Aicoboaie Stefana is a research assistant and PhD student with a background in Neuroscience. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Neuroscience from the University of Birmingham (UK) and an interdisciplinary MSc in Neurosciences from the University of Geneva (Switzerland). Her interest is in harnessing the power of large population-based cohorts to better understand disease etiology and comorbidity. She hopes her work will help identify eating disorder risk factors that would allow for effective early interventions that would put individuals at a better chance of improved long-term outcomes.
	Julia Freyer M Pereira Julia is a research assistant with a background in Clinical Medicine. She has a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Aberdeen and an MPhil in Population Medicine from Cardiff University. Her research experience includes working in haematology and anaesthetics in the United Kingdom and on public health and community medicine projects in Germany, where she played a key role in organising a randomized clinical trial on acute gout therapy. Julia has also gained hands-on experience in a range of clinical specialties. However, her passion for psychiatry led her to shift her focus, and she is now dedicated to applying her research skills to study the epidemiology of binge eating disorders.
	Moa Victoria Carlbaum Moa is a research assistant with a mater's degree in Public Health from Lund University (Sweden). She has previouslky worked on research projects in family epidemiology, environmental epidemiology and economic evaluation, including managing and analysing large-scale population and register based datasets. Her research interests include register based-research, epidemiological methods and the study of how family, social and health-related factors influence mental health outcomes, including eating behaviors and disorders.
	Ange Dakouri Ange is a research assistant with a background in Mathematical Engineering and a specialization in Statistical Learning from Politecnico di Milano (Italy). He completed his master’s thesis at the Technical University of Denmark, focusing on multimorbidity dynamics among Danish adults identified through cluster analysis. His research interests include data-driven approaches to support research and decision-making in the Life Sciences. At CEDaR, his work focuses on longitudinal studies aiming to identify early risk factors leading to eating disorders.
	Alice Ronconi Alice is a research assistant with a background in clinical and genetic epidemiology. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Ferrara (Italy), a Master's degree in Genetics from the University of Paris Cité (France), and a second Master's degree in Public Health from Lund University (Sweden). Her academic interests focus on integrating biological and genetic data into traditional epidemiological analyses to gain insights into the underlying mechanisms of complex health conditions, such as eating disorders, with the aim of informing effective and personalized prevention strategies.

Clinical studies team

Mie Sedoc Jørgensen, PhD (Line Manager)

Mie is a senior researcher, authorized psychologist, and specialist in psychotherapy. She completed her PhD in psychiatry at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on the early detection and treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in adolescence. Her postdoctoral research explored the longitudinal course of BPD from adolescence to adulthood. At CEDaR, Mie works on projects related to the early detection and prevention of eating disorders, as well as psychotherapy effectiveness studies for eating disorders.

Lea Steinstad

Lea is a research assistant and PhD student with a background in neuropsychology. She completed her BSc in Psychology at The University of Manchester and her MSc in Applied Neuropsychology at the University of Bristol. She has previously worked on research projects related to Alzheimer's disease, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety and cancer, and is passionate about clinical research aimed to improve patient outcomes. Lea's main research interests relate to the neuropsychology of different mental health problems and she is excited about working with eating disorders.

Amalie Schousboe

Amalie is a research assistant and PhD student with a background in Public Health from the University of Southern Denmark. She has previously conducted research in the areas of sports science and biomechanics, infectious diseases, and COVID-19. Her current work focuses on early detection and prevention of eating disorders with particular interest in identifying protective and resilience factors associated with these disorders.

Luna Thule Viggers

Luna is a research assistant with an MSc in Psychology from the University of Copenhagen and a BSc in Psychology from University College London. Her previous experience includes quantitative and clinical research on youth eating disorders at Bispebjerg Hospital, along with clinical work in psychiatric services. Her research interests include how mental disorders are defined, measured, and distinguished, why they develop, and how early identification and prevention can be improved - especially for eating disorders.

Charlotte Eisemann

Charlotte is a clinical research nurse. She is a postgraduate mental health nurse with an MSc in Health Sciences from the University of Copenhagen. She has extensive clinical experience in psychiatric assessment, treatment and outreach for both adults and children, particularly in child and adolescent psychiatry. Her main interest is research, development and improvement of clinical practice to improve the understanding, background and treatment of mental illness. She has a particular focus on working with children, young people and their parents to achieve better health outcomes.

Martin Winther Andreasen

Martin is a research assistant with a Master's degree in Human Physiology from the University of Copenhagen. He has a background in exercise physiology and nutrition and has previously worked on projects examining the effects of prolonged exercise on visceral and liver fat in older trained men, as well as the impact of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) on resting energy expenditure, satiety, ketone formation, and glucose metabolism in young healthy men. His research interests include both the prevention and treatment of eating disorders.

Research staff
	Cecilie Marie Damgaard Rau Cecilie is our research unit Administrator. She holds a bachelor in Business Administration and Organizational Communication from the Copenhagen Business School as well as a MSc in Journalism from the University of Southern Denmark. With experience from agency, ministry, and corporate environments, as well as international settings, Cecilie has a solit understanding of business and organizational dybamics as well as being a skiled communicator. She thrives in a versatile role driven to support and lead various long-term proejcts, as well as handle pratctical administrative tasks.
	Lyudmila Kurylenko Lyudmila is our Unit Administrator and Personal Assistant to Nadia Micali. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and brings extensive experience from administrative and coordinating roles in corporate pharmaceutical and international environments. With a strong foundation in communication, coordination, and administration, Lyudmila is ensuring that daily operations run smoothly and efficiently. Lyudmila thrives in a dynamic environment where she can combine her administrative expertise with proactive problem solving and a high level of professionalism.
	Bilal Assan Ashraf, PhD Bilal is a senior researcher with a background in Statistics, holding a PhD in Statistical Genetics from the Aarhus University Denmark in 2015. He works at CEDaR as lab's statistician. Bilal’s key expertise is in genomic prediction and Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) of human and non-human species. He has contributed to various research projects in plant, animal, and human genetics. He has experience of analyzing large scale datasets in health and social sciences.
	Amalie Gaarde Eilersen Amalie is a research coordinator with a MSc in Biomedicine from the University of Southern Denmark. Her thesis focused on liver histology and the development of a novel biomarker assay for chronic liver disease. In her role as a research coordinator, Amalie will support the planning, coordination, and execution of research projects by creating structure, facilitating communication, and ensuring smooth progress. She is particularly motivated by bridging scientific insight with clear, accessible communication and by ensuring that projects run smoothly.
	Embla Kvam Egén Embla is a research coordinator with a background and a MSc in Global Health Research from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her previous experience includes research on health and nutrition among displaced children and examining healthcare worker shortages in a resource-limited hospital, along with clinical work in maternity and gynecology wards. She is responsible for patient recruitment and facilitating collaboration between the research unit and clinical departments. She is particularly interested in bridging clinical practice and research to improve treatments for eating disorders.

Last updated: 4. June 2026

Responsible editor

Jesper Kvorning