ENRG: Eating disorders and Nutrition Research Group

Janet Franklin

Conjoint Associate Professor

Janet Franklin is a senior clinical dietitian, researcher, clinical placement coordinator, and supervisor at the Metabolism & Obesity Service, RPA Hospital, Sydney. In addition to ENRG she is an affiliate of the University of Sydney. Janet has 25 years of experience working and researching adult obesity.  She is particularly interested in the overlap of disordered eating, included binge eating disorder in people in larger bodies and is undertaking research in this area.

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Melissa Hart

Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Medicine

Primary interests: Eating behaviour and nutrition in people with an eating disorder as well as the role of dietitians in the prevention and treatment of disordered eating.

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Kylie Matthews-Rensch

Adjunct Fellow, School of Medicine

Primary interests: Dr Kylie Matthews-Rensch is a clinical and research dietitian at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital who obtained her PhD in 2019. Kylie’s research focuses on the translation of research into clinical practice, particularly in the fields of refeeding syndrome and for patients with eating disorders. Her research in both fields has received national recognition and has impacted clinical practice guidelines across Australia.  Kylie's current interests in eating disorder research include: refeeding syndrome, acute hospital management, hospital discharge support, and staff, patient and carer experience through treatment.

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Kirrilly Pursey

Conjoint Lecturer, School of Medicine

Primary interests: Kirrilly is an early career researcher and holds a lecturing position within the School of Health Sciences at the University of Newcastle. Her PhD thesis explored the neurobiological underpinnings of compulsive overeating. Her current research focuses on a range of disordered eating behaviours, particularly in children and adolescents. Kirrilly has experience in the development, implementation and evaluation of innovative models of care within the Local Health District as well as the delivery of workforce development and training to clinicians. She is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and has extensive dietetic experience across inpatient and community settings.

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Caitlin McMaster

Adjunct Fellow, School of Medicine, Western Syndey University
Sydney School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney
South Western Sydney Local Health District, Liverpool
Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool
Illawarra Eating Disorder Service, Wollongong

Dr Caitlin McMaster is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and early career researcher with 11 years’ experience in the field of eating disorders.  In 2021, she completed her PhD at the Boden Collaboration for Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders at the University of Sydney with her research focussing on advancing outpatient dietetic treatment for individuals with eating disorders and the translation of dietetic-focused eating disorder research into clinical practice. Caitlin currently works as a Research Officer with the South Western Sydney Allied Health Research Collaboration and the Illawarra Eating Disorder Service in Wollongong, and previously held a postdoctoral position with the Eating Disorders In weight-related Therapies (EDIT) Collaboration at the University of Sydney.

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Lyza Norton

Adjunct Research Fellow, Western Sydney University
University of Melbourne - Honorary Research Fellow
Treehouse Nutrition Services - Director 

Dr Norton has extensive clinical experience as a Paediatric Dietitian working across the acute and community sectors in the area of eating disorders, over the past two decades. She is passionate about integrating preventive interventions within the wider community and has a research interest in co-design, the early years, food communication and preventive interventions. Her PhD; Promoting positive food parenting practices for disordered eating prevention: Adopting a knowledge translation approach, has resulted in an innovative intervention designed for use in child health services.

Dr Norton has worked (2023/24) as a research fellow in child eating disorders at the University of Melbourne, School of Population and Global Health. She also consults with a range of organisations via Treehouse Nutrition Services, most recently partnering with a not-for-profit, The Embrace Collective. Dr Norton consulted as the lead content expert for the development of Body Blocks, a program designed for early childhood educators, promoting food and body confidence.

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Tetyana Rocks

Adjunct Research Fellow

Tetyana is an Accredited Practising Dietitian, Senior Research Fellow and director of the Food and Mood Academy. Her work focusses on translating food and mood evidence into practical and accessible education and training. Tetyana’s work enables implementation of the latest research in Nutritional Psychiatry into transdiagnostic clinical practice.

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Tracey L Burrows

Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine

Tracy has > 200 peer reviewed journal publications, attracted national and international funding and supervises a range students. These students are across a number of disciplines including nutrition and dietetics, science and IT, Psychology. Her supervision and mentoring of colleagues is evidenced through burrows students winning multiple local, national and international awards. She has instigated multidisciplinary international collaborations with eminent researchers across the globe to understand the role of food addiction in the development of obesity and its treatment.

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Janet Conti (opens in a new window)

Associate Professor School of Social Science and Psychology

Primary interests: Tailoring eating disorder treatment experiences, testing of under-researched treatment interventions for eating disorders

Catharine Fleming (opens in a new window)

Lecturer in Public Health, School of Sciences and Health, THRI

Primary interests: Paediatric feeding behaviours associated with picky/fussy eating and possible long-term health outcomes from these behaviours that manifest in early adolescence and young adulthood