UB expert on eating disorders to lobby for federal funding

UB faculty member Alyssa Hamel will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to advocate for the rights and health of Americans living with an eating disorder as part in National Eating Disorders Advocacy Day on April 15.

Hamel, a board-certified psychiatric provider, educator and researcher specializing in eating disorders and substance use-related education, is one of six expert ambassadors chosen to take part in the event by the Eating Disorders Coalition, a national initiative that lobbies for more federal support for those suffering from the disorders.

“Eating disorders are significantly under-researched and under-funded,” despite having one of the highest mortality rates of any psychiatric illness, says Hamel, clinical assistant professor and psychiatric/mental health program director at the School of Nursing.

Specifically, Hamel will lead her group of ambassadors in meetings with New York State lawmakers, specifically with staff members in the office of Rep. Tim Kennedy. She and other coalition members will present the case for increased funding, specifically for the Nutrition CARE Act, expanding Medicare coverage for nutrition therapy and FY27 funding requests for Eating Disorders Centers of Excellence.

Hamel says she and coalition members will also provide anecdotal data about how their loved ones — students, children, partners and others — have been personally impacted by eating disorders. “Sharing lived experience has purpose,” she notes. “It fosters empathy, awareness and understanding, which are central mechanisms in advocacy efforts.”

Eating disorders are complex, brain-based, psychiatric conditions associated with profound physical and psychological impairment. The mortality rate of eating disorders is the highest of any mental illness, second only to opioid use disorder. In the United States, an estimated 9% of the population — approximately 30 million individuals — will experience an eating disorder in their lifetime. These illnesses are responsible for approximately 10,200 deaths annually — about one death every 52 minutes.

While eating disorders impact individuals of all genders, races and ethnicities, people from racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely to be diagnosed or receive treatment.

“Eating disorders are among the most stigmatized mental illnesses and are often rooted in perceived personal choice and sociocultural expectations,” Hamel says. “These negative perceptions contribute to punitive treatment approaches and poorer recovery opportunities.”

Despite their growing incidence, eating disorders receive significantly less funding than other serious mental illnesses, and this lack of funding is disproportionate to the number of individuals affected and the disability-adjusted life years lost, according to Hamel and the Eating Disorders Coalition.

Hamel says advocacy plays a vital role in eating disorder prevention and treatment by influencing public policy, funding and health care systems.

Eating Disorders Coalition ambassadors, such as Hamel, are clinicians, researchers, individuals living with eating disorders and advocacy organizations. They help raise public awareness of the prevalence and severity of eating disorders while promoting policies that address broader structural determinants, such as weight discrimination, inequitable health care access and harmful societal messaging about body.

They also push for legislation that expands insurance coverage, increases federal research funding and improves early screening and provider education.

“Eating disorders continue to be misunderstood and stigmatized,” Hamel says. “The human cost of that stigma is substantial — and at times, fatal.”