Cynthia M. Bulik
Cynthia Marie Bulik is an American psychologist and author who focuses on eating disorders. She founded the University of North Carolina Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders and the Centre for Eating Disorders Innovation at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and she holds senior professorships at UNC and Karolinska Institutet, with an adjunct role at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
Education: She earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame and an MA and PhD in clinical psychology from UC Berkeley. Since 1982, Bulik has researched eating disorders, developed treatment programs, and led studies in treatment, biology, genetics, and epidemiology. She co-chairs the Eating Disorders Workgroup of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium and directed the first NIH-sponsored postdoctoral program in eating disorders; she has received continuous funding since 1985. She has published more than 520 scientific papers and 60 chapters, and her books include Eating Disorders: Detection and Treatment; Runaway Eating; Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How To Stop; Abnormal Psychology; The Woman in the Mirror; Midlife Eating Disorders; and Binge Control. She holds the first endowed professorship in eating disorders in the United States and has received many awards from professional groups. She has served in leadership roles such as president of the Academy for Eating Disorders and editor for the International Journal of Eating Disorders, and she appears frequently in the media.
Born February 13, 1960 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Bulik is married to Patrick F. Sullivan, FRANZCP, and is mother of three. She also won a bronze medal in the 2012 Adult National Figure Skating Championships with partner David Tsai.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:48 (CET).