Celebrating Isabel Rooper: OBBI SIG Early Career Award Winner

May 6, 2025

We are beyond thrilled to celebrate Isabel Rooper, BA, Research Coordinator at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Medical Social Sciences in the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies, as the recipient of this year’s “Up and Coming” Award from the Optimization of Behavioral and Biobehavioral Interventions (OBBI) Special Interest Group (SIG) of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. This honor recognizes her outstanding contributions to the field and her dedication to advancing behavioral intervention research.

Rooper found her professional home at SBM’s OBBI SIG business meeting, where she connected with a passionate community of researchers committed to optimizing evidence-based behavioral interventions. “I’m honored to have received this award,” she shared. “I’m excited to stay involved with the SIG moving forward, given their strong motivation to optimize and efficiently design and test our interventions.”

Rooper’s research in this field began with her arrival at Northwestern in 2023, drawn by the inspiring work of Andrea Graham, PhD. She quickly became immersed in designing and testing digital interventions to support people with eating disorders—which are common, and, importantly, treatable. “There’s still so much room to tailor our interventions to individuals’ unique needs and circumstances,” Rooper said. “I’m excited to use optimization methodologies to efficiently answer intervention-related research questions.”

At the 2025 SBM Annual Meeting, Rooper presented two innovative projects on optimizing digital interventions. One focused on adapting a digital binge eating intervention for individuals with food insecurity. The study examined participants’ perspectives on a key intervention adaptation—a $10 weekly stipend—and found that while the stipend helped individuals implement health behavior changes, the amount was often insufficient. In another presentation, Rooper showcased her collaborative work with Andrew Berry, PhD, on co-designing values elicitation tools for patients managing multiple chronic conditions as well as depression or anxiety. That work, recently published in JMIR Formative, was co-led with William Liem, a PhD candidate in Northwestern’s Health Sciences Integrated Program.

Rooper’s path to a clinical research career hasn’t been linear. With undergraduate coursework in bioethics and politics, and early career experience in sustainable food systems, she joined Northwestern with a unique lens and a deep commitment to systems-level thinking. “The learning curve has been steep,” she reflected. “But I’ve been incredibly fortunate to learn from generous mentors, especially Andrea Graham, PhD, who have helped me navigate building a research career as a clinical scientist.”

That mentorship will continue as Rooper embarks on her next chapter: pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine. “Ultimately, my goal is to design and implement behavioral interventions, at the intersections of mental and physical health, that reach individuals where they are and fit into their lives,” she said.

To early-career researchers interested in intervention optimization, Rooper offers enthusiastic encouragement: “The OBBI SIG has curated resources available for individuals interested in exploring intervention optimization methodologies. I found their SIG to be incredibly welcoming to people at all stages of their research careers, so I would also encourage you to join their SIG and sign up for their newsletter!”

We are so proud of Rooper’s achievements and inspired by her clarity of purpose, her dedication to equity, and her commitment to collaboration. Her recognition by the OBBI SIG is richly deserved—and just the beginning.