ProfessorMedicine Clinical Research Director, UW Medicine Diabetes InstituteDirector, UW Nutrition and Obesity Research Center and Director, Clinical and Translational Research Services CoreRelated Links: ResearchFaculty Information Biography After 13 years as a primary care internal medicine physician, I founded the nonsurgical weight loss program at what is now the UW Medicine Center for Weight Loss and Metabolic Surgery and I still practice obesity medicine there. I care deeply about advocating for this vulnerable patient population. My research focuses on brain regulation of appetite and obesity. I discovered the first evidence in humans for inflammation and possible scarring in areas of the hypothalamus that regulate body weight. I am currently studying if lifestyle and diet changes can reverse the findings. I welcome emailed queries about research opportunities. Education & Training: MDStanford University, School of MedicineStanford, CA1999 Residency in Internal Medicine, Primary Care TrackUniversity of WashingtonSeattle, WA1999–2002 MSUniversity of Washington, School of Public Health and Community MedicineSeattle, WA2008 Honors: Phi Beta Kappa1991 Stanford Alumni Medical Student Scholar1995 Stanford Excellence in Teaching Commendation1995 NIDDK Neuroimaging in Obesity Research Workshop Travel Award2008 Marian E. Smith Junior Faculty Research Award Nominee2009 Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center Pilot and Feasibility Award2010 Clinician-Scientist of the Year2012 Royalty Research Fund Award2013 Royalty Research Fund Award2016 Contact Email: ellschur@uw.edu Research & Clinical Interests Research Interests: Eating behavior Appetite regulation Obesity Publications Publications: Schur EA, Kleinhans NM, Goldberg J, Buchwald D, Schwartz MW, Maravilla K. Activation in brain energy regulation and reward centers by food cues varies with choice of visual stimulus. Int J Obes, 2009 Jun;33(6):653–61. PMCID: PMC2697279. Schur EA, Kleinhans NM, Goldberg J, Buchwald DS, Polivy J, Del Parigi A, Maravilla KR. Acquired differences in brain responses among monozygotic twins discordant for restrained eating. Physiol Behav, 2012 Jan 18;105(2):560–67. PMID: 21945867. Thaler JP, Yi CX,* Schur EA,* Guyenet SJ, Hwang BH, Dietrich MO, Zhao X, Sarruf DA, Izgur V, Maravilla KR, Nguyen HT, Fischer JD, Matsen ME, Wisse BE, Morton GJ, Horvath TL, Baskin DG, Tschöp MH, Schwartz MW. Obesity is associated with hypothalamic injury in rodents and humans. J Clin Invest, 2012 Jan 3;122(1):153–62. [*shared second authorship] PMCID: PMC3248304. Mehta S,* Melhorn SJ,* Smeraglio A, Tyagi V, Grabowski T, Schwartz MW, Schur EA. Regional brain response to visual food cues is a marker of satiety that predicts food choice. Am J Clin Nutr, 2012 Nov;96(5):989–99. [*shared first authorship] PMCID: PMC3471210. Lee D,* Thaler JP,* Berkseth KE, Melhorn SJ, Schwartz MW, Schur EA. Longer T2 relaxation time is a marker of hypothalamic gliosis in mice with diet-induced obesity. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 2013 Jun;304(11): E1245–E1250. PMCID: PMC3680680 [*shared first authorship]. Loos RJF, Burant C, Schur EA. Strategies to Understand the Weight-Reduced State: Genetics and Brain Imaging. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2021 Apr;29 Suppl 1:S39-S50. doi: 10.1002/oby.23101. PMID: 33759393. [review] Sewaybricker L, Melhorn SJ, Rosenbaum J, Askren MK, Tyagi V, Webb MF, De Leon MRB, Grabowski TJ, Schur EA. Reassessing relationships between appetite and adiposity: A twin study using fMRI. Physiol Behav. 2021 Jun 18;239:113504. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113504. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34147511. [original research] Sewaybricker L, Schur EA. Is bariatric surgery brain surgery? Diabetes. 2021 Jun; 70(6): 1244-1246. doi: 10.2337/dbi21-0022. [commentary] Saelens BE, Melhorn SJ, Rowland MG, Scholz K, De Leon MRB, Elfers CT, Schur EA, Roth CL. General and Food-Specific Impulsivity and Inhibition Related to Weight Management. Child Obes. 2021 Aug 5. doi: 10.1089/chi.2021.0080. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34357785.
