Geliebter Laboratory

Geliebter Laboratory

The lab is located at Mount Sinai Morningside and focuses on obesity and obesity-related eating disorders: binge eating disorder (BED) and the night eating syndrome (NES).

Our staff’s, students’ and postdocs’ publications are available on Google Scholar and Pubmed. Funding sources include those on NIH Reporter as well as other sources. Feel free to contact Allan.Geliebter@mountsinai.org or Shaunte.Baboumian@mountsinai.org for more information or to inquire about available positions.

Allan Geliebter, PhD

Dr. Allan Geliebter is Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai. He received an MA in biology and a PhD in psychology from Columbia University. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist. He serves as the co-chair of the Columbia University Seminar on Appetitive Behavior.

Research
Many of our studies have been on neurohormonal mechanisms that control food intake, especially the stomach’s role, and in translating that knowledge into treatment for obesity and eating disorders. We showed that distention of the stomach with an intragastric balloon to different volumes proportionately reduced ad libitum food intake in individuals with obesity and of normal weight. This led to the development of an intragastric balloon for treating obesity, first testing the concept in animals and then in humans.  We also developed a technique for measuring stomach capacity and showed that capacity is larger in those with obesity than in lean individuals, larger in those with binge eating than without binge eating, and largest of all in those with bulimia nervosa.  In those with both obesity and binge eating, we reported lower fasting levels of ghrelin, a gut peptide secreted by the stomach, than in weight matched non-binge eaters.
Allan Geliebter, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Specialty: Obesity, food intake, eating disorders
Education: MA, Biology; PhD, Psychology; Columbia University
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
BIBLIOGRAPHY
With Gene-Jack Wang and Nora Volkow, we found using fMRI that gastric distention in humans activates the insula and amygdala.  After showing that individuals with obesity exhibit greater brain activation in reward areas in response to high calorie food stimuli, we found that following gastric bypass surgery, there was a marked reduction in reward activation to high calorie stimuli.  More recently, we observed that alcohol use increases in patients with obesity 2 years post gastric bypass, perhaps to compensate for reduced food reward. In those with obesity and binge eating, we also observed greater fMRI reward brain activation to food stimuli than in those with obesity without binge eating, and similarly with PET, we found that those with obesity and binge eating had greater striatal dopamine release than those with obesity without binge eating.

New instruments have been developed along the way for measuring emotional eating, the Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ) and for assessing night eating, the Night Eating Diagnostic Questionnaire (NEDQ).  A new area of interest has been environmental interventions to reduce obesity, and in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), we showed that implementing discounts of fruits and vegetables in a NY supermarket chain led to a three-fold increase in purchasing and a 50% increase in consumption, with a trend for weight loss. We are currently conducting a larger RCT (see below).

The research work has contributed to a better understanding of the stomach’s involvement in food intake, obesity, binge eating disorder, and bulimia nervosa, and to the development of a gastric balloon as an adjunct treatment modality for obesity.

Clinical Profile

My clinical work has been in treating obesity and eating disorders (binge eating disorder, the night eating syndrome, bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and pica).   I have supervised eating disorder groups and provided supervision to interns and residents in psychiatry. I also have supervised programs for patients pre and post bariatric surgery and conducted bariatric evaluations. My clinical approach has been to use evidence-based treatments, primarily cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for eating disorders and to recommend medication when appropriate. I have conducted clinical trials to test new drug treatments for eating disorders, such as rimonabant for binge eating disorder. Two new scales have been developed for assessing emotional eating, the Emotional Appetite Questionnaire (EMAQ) and the night eating syndrome, the Night Eating Diagnostic Questionnaire (NEDQ) which have been well validated.

 

Current Studies

We are currently conducting an RCT funded by NIH on the effects of discounts on healthy foods at a supermarket chain in NYC. Supermarket participants are randomized to receive 0, 15%, and 30% discounts on fruits and vegetables and noncaloric beverages. Besides examining food intake, we are also assessing changes in body weight and body fat, as well as blood pressure and other medical risk factors.

We are also conducting an fMRI component as part of an NIH study on obesity (PI: Ruth Loos).

 

Click here to listen to Dr. Geliebter speak about his upcoming neuroimaging study!

Shaunte, our lab manager, testing out the mock scanner

Lab Personnel

Shaunte Baboumian, MS, BSCI

Shaunte Baboumian, MS, BSCI

Lab Manager

Arna Choksi

Arna Choksi

Clinical Research Coordinator

Aniema Nzesi, MS

Aniema Nzesi, MS

Clinical Research Coordinator

Sam Scaccia, MS

Sam Scaccia, MS

Clinical Research Coordinator

Spiro Pantazatos, PhD

Spiro Pantazatos, PhD

Statistical and Imaging Consultant

Atene Poskute, MD, MS

Atene Poskute, MD, MS

Former Clinical Research Coordinator

Chinara Tate, PhD

Chinara Tate, PhD

Former Post-Doc & Lab Manager

Sam Tweardy, MD

Sam Tweardy, MD

Former Clinical Research Coordinator

Collaborators

Kelly Allison, PhD

Ian Ang, PhD

Nicole Avena, PhD

Cara Bohon, PhD

Valerie Compan, PhD

Alexis Conason, PhD

Marcie Gluck, PhD

James Greenberg, PhD

Andras Hajnal, MD

Harry Kissileff, PhD

Susan M Murray, PhD

Jennifer Nasser, PhD

Larry Nolan, PhD

Yanina Pepino, PhD

Barbara Rumain, PhD

Tom Wadden, PhD

Former Lab Members

Ian Ang, PhD

Nerys Astbury,  PhD
Denise Atalayer, PhD

Maria Bernales-Korins, PhD, LMHC

Susan Carnell, PhD

Beatriz Cole, MD

Eva Conceico, MD, PhD

Charlisa Gibson, MD

Marcie Gluck, PhD

Dominica Hernandez, PhD

Laura Kolbe, MD

Dorina Kordunova, RD

Haley McQuatt, PhD

Kyle Morris, MD

Daniela Ben Neriah, DO

Chris Ochner, PhD

Lauren Puma, PhD

Liza Roychowdhury

Tatiana Ungredda, PhD

Eric Wang, MS

Roni Aviram-Friedman, PhD

Current Graduate Students

Ruoyao Sun

Nick Lindner

Current Undergraduate Students

Ellie Ahn

Katie Ahn

Kathan Reddy

Former Students

Jessica Cha, MS ’23

Leah Grossman, MS ’23

Tamanna Ina, MS ’23

Nathaniel Padre, MS ’23

Makayla Durant, MS ’22

Maria Pagane, MS ’22

Benedicta Owusu,   MS  ’21

Fatima Moss, MS ’21

Carol Cheney, MS ’20

Aniema Nzesi, MS ’20

Mary Lou De Jesus

Dominica Hernandez, PhD

Rachel Rubin, PhD

Manas Tiwari

Tatiana Ungredda, PhD