Heather Hower, DSW, LICSW, QCSW, ACSW

Dr. Heather Hower is a Faculty Associate Specialist at the UC San Diego Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research (UCSD EDCTR), a Faculty Research Associate at the Brown University School of Public Health Hassenfeld Child Innovation Institute, and a Project Director at the Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. She has a BA in psychology from Brown University, an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley, and a DSW from Simmons University. Her research examines anorexia nervosa genetics, neurobiology, and the premorbid anxious temperamental traits that persist after recovery; this work calls for a reconceptualization of those traits as both vulnerabilities and strengths. She brings a lived experience perspective with anorexia nervosa as a complement to her professional research. Dr. Hower has chaired 25 international conference symposia, delivered 40 poster presentations, and is first author or co-author on 50 peer-reviewed journal publications. She serves on the editorial board of BMC Psychology, guest edits special issues, and reviews for 35 peer-reviewed journals. She is also a grant reviewer for the Department of Defense and a conference reviewer for the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals. Dr. Hower has held multiple leadership roles within the National Eating Disorders Association and the Academy for Eating Disorders, and contributes to training video series, podcasts, and blogs with her UCSD colleagues.