Margaret Westwater

I am a cognitive neuroscientist who studies the neurobiology of disordered eating and related conditions. It is increasingly recognised that disorders like anorexia nervosa are characterised by both psychological disturbances, as well as altered metabolic functioning. However, interactions between metabolic and cognitive processes in these patients remain poorly understood. I aim to combine cognitive neuroscience, computational modelling, and integrative physiology techniques to identify mechanisms by which peripheral metabolic functioning relates to higher-order cognition and eating behaviour in individuals with and without eating disorders.

After completing a B.S. in Neuroscience at George Mason University, I pursued an MPhil in Medical Sciences (Psychiatry) at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof Paul Fletcher and Dr Hisham Ziauddeen. I then completed my PhD in Psychiatry as a part of the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Scholars Program, where continued working with Prof Fletcher in Cambridge and Drs Christian Grillon and Monique Ernst at the National Institute of Mental Health. Prior to joining the Dept. of Psychiatry at Oxford, I was a T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Yale University with Dr Dustin Scheinost.