College of Arts and Sciences

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Obesity prevention and treatment
• Physical activity promotion
• Lifestyle modification
• Behavioral therapy
• Cancer prevention and survivorship

Bio:

Meghan Butryn, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and a licensed clinical psychologist. She serves as Associate Head of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Director of Research in the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) at Drexel. She also is a Program Leader for Cancer Risk and Control at Jefferson’s Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (of which Drexel is a consortium member). Her research interests and expertise lie in weight management, physical activity promotion, and dietary change. She specializes in developing and evaluating behavioral treatment and prevention programs for obesity. More recently, she has begun studying lifestyle modification during cancer prevention and survivorship. Butryn has been a principal investigator or co-investigator on 12 NIH-funded clinical trials. She has published over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts, co-authored two books, and edited one book. She has served as a standing member of an NIH study section, is currently a member of the Scientific Review Committee for the Obesity Society, and is an editorial board member for the journal Obesity Science & Practice. She created and coordinates the faculty/first-year-undergraduate-student mentorship program in Drexel’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.

Butryn’s work on lifestyle modification is ultimately designed to improve the health of adults by reducing their risk for conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The environment factors that promote unhealthy eating and activity habits are so powerful, in combination with innate biological drives, that the majority of adults in the U.S. are now overweight or obese and also engage in insufficient amounts of exercise. The Butryn lab uses behavioral principles to understand the challenges of eating a healthy diet and engaging in physical activity, and creates innovations in intervention programs by integrating the latest advances in scientific theory as well as technology.

Selected Publications:

• Bruneau, M., Milliron, B., Sinclair, E., Obeeid, E., Gross, L., Bealin, L., Smaltz, C., Butryn, M.L., & Giri, V. (in press). Physical activity assessment among men undergoing genetic counseling for inherited prostate cancer: a teachable moment for improved survivorship. Supportive Care in Cancer.
• Butryn, M.L., Martinelli, M., Crane, N.T., Godfrey, K., Roberts, S.R., Zhang, F., & Forman, E.M. (in press). Counselor surveillance of digital self-monitoring data: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Obesity.
• Martinelli, M.K., Godfrey, K.M., Martinez, M., Forman, E.M., & Butryn, M.L. (in press). Physical discomfort intolerance as a predictor of weight loss and physical activity in a lifestyle modification program. Journal of Behavioral Medicine.
• Schumacher, L.M., Martinelli, M.K., Convertino, A.D., Forman, E.M., & Butryn, M.L. (in press). Weight-related information avoidance prospectively predicts poorer self-monitoring and engagement in a behavioral weight loss intervention. Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
• Butryn, M.L., Godfrey, K., Martinelli, M., Roberts, S.R., Forman, E.F., & Zhang, F. (2020). Digital self-monitoring: does adherence or association with outcomes differ by self-monitoring target. Obesity Science & Practice, 6, 126-133.
• Wadden, T.A., Tronieri, J., & Butryn, M.L. (2020). Lifestyle modification for the treatment of obesity in adults. American Psychologist, 75, 235-251.
• Butryn, M.L., Martinelli, M.K., Remmert, J.E., Roberts, S.R., Zhang, F., Forman, E.M., & Manasse, S.M. (2019). Executive functioning as a predictor of weight loss and physical activity outcomes. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 53, 909-917.
• Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., Lowe, M.R., Gorin, A., Zhang, F., & Schaumberg, K. (2017). Efficacy of environmental and acceptance-based enhancements to behavioral weight loss treatment: the ENACT trial. Obesity, 25, 866-872.
• Rosenbaum, D.L., Piers, A.D., Schumacher, L.M., Kase, C.A., & Butryn, M.L. (2017). Racial and ethnic minority enrollment in randomized clinical trials of behavioral weight loss utilizing technology: A systematic review. Obesity Reviews, 18, 808-817.
• Sherwood, N.E., Butryn, M.L., Forman, E.M., Almirall, D., Seburg, E.M., Crain, A.L., Levy, R., & Jeffery, R.W. (2016). The BestFIT trial: A SMART approach to developing individualized weight loss treatments. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 47, 209-216.