SPONSORED RESEARCH: Developing Tailored Binge Intervention for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
February 12, 2026
Pictured Above: Andrea Graham, PhD
Read a Q&A Below:
Andrea Graham, PhD, Isabel Rooper, BA, and the Advancing Care through Technology (ACT) Lab at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine Department of Medical Social Sciences received a grant from the American Psychological Foundation titled: "Developing Tailored Binge Intervention for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus."
What are the aims of the project?
Type 2 diabetes mellitus affects 15% of U.S. adults and is often accompanied by binge eating, which worsens both physical and mental health outcomes. The goal of this award is to adapt and refine FoodSteps, a digital intervention for binge eating and weight-related behaviors created by our lab for adults with type 2 diabetes and eating behaviors like binge eating.
What are your next steps?
FoodSteps, originally designed to address binge eating and weight-related behaviors, has shown promising results in reducing binge eating and weight in different populations, including in a pilot trial of adults with type 2 diabetes. However, feedback from program users indicates the need for further tailoring to meet the unique needs of people with type 2 diabetes and comorbid binge eating. Therefore, our next steps are to use methods from human-centered design to engage up to 30 end-users and 10 clinicians across multiple waves of design activities to co-design the adapted FoodSteps.
What do you hope will come out of this funded research?
By the end of the project, we aim to have a finalized set of designs that are ready to be implemented in the software so that FoodSteps can be subsequently tested to see if our adaptations improve engagement and clinical outcomes based on incorporating user-driven features and addressing diabetes-specific needs. Our overall vision is to establish an adapted intervention that meets the unique needs of people with type 2 diabetes and comorbid binge eating, thus improving their physical and mental health.