Food, Affect and the Brain Lab (FABLAB)

• Associate Professor Trevor Steward

  Lab Head

  trevor.steward@unimelb.edu.au
  

Research Overview

Our research spans neuroimaging, clinical trials, and psychological science to understand the brain and behavioural mechanisms that drive disordered eating. A central focus is the circuitry underlying binge eating episodes, including how stress-related neural systems govern loss-of-control eating and how these systems are altered by treatment. Our lab draws on a range of methods, including neuroimaging, real-world symptom tracking and pharmacological interventions, to examine these questions at multiple levels of analysis.

Current projects include a placebo-controlled neuroimaging study of tirzepatide in binge eating disorder. The FABLAB is embedded within the Department of Psychiatry and the Brain and Mental Health Hub at the University of Melbourne, and collaborates with researchers across Australia and internationally.

Staff

• Trevor Steward
• Po-Han Kung
• Lucy Nathan
• Ella Donaldson
• Georgia Tsindos
• Jessica Hoffmann
• Xinyi Zhang
• Scarlet Brisbane
• Sarah Croce
• Alyona Cerfontyne
• Jeanette Chan
• Matthew Greaves.

Collaborators

• Robyn Brown
• Kim Felmingham
• Ben Harrison
• Chris Davey
• Priya Sumithran
• Orli Schwartz
• Brad Moffat
• Rebecca Glarin
• Sarah Barakat
• Tudor Sava
• Carly Beveridge
• Morgan James
• Luke Ney.

Funding

Our research is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)l, the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), and the Brain & Behaviour Research Foundation (BBRF).

Research Opportunities

This research project is available to PhD students, Post Doctor Researchers to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.

Research Outcomes

Our work aims to change how eating disorders are understood and treated, identifying the biological mechanisms that drive disordered eating so that better, more targeted interventions can be developed for the people who need them most.

Research Publications

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-71414-y
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40335503/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39497159/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38123380/
• https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-are-drugs-like-ozempic-doing-to-the-brains-of-people-that-binge-eat