This is unpublished
Ellen
Schur
MD
MS
MD
MS
Faculty
Ambulatory
Pinned
Academic
Professor, Medicine
Professional
Clinical Research Director, UW Medicine Diabetes Institute
Director, UW Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (UW NORC)
Director, UW NORC Clinical and Translational Research Services Core
Co-Director, Nutrition, Obesity, and Atherosclerosis Training Program
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
- MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA (1999)
- Residency in Internal Medicine, Primary Care Track, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (1999–2002)
- MS in Epidemiology, University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Seattle, WA (2008)
- Diplomate, American Board of Obesity Medicine (2021)
Honors
- Royalty Research Fund Award (2016)
- Royalty Research Fund Award (2013)
- Clinician-Scientist of the Year (2012)
- Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center Pilot and Feasibility Award (2010)
- Marian E. Smith Junior Faculty Research Award Nominee (2009)
- NIDDK Neuroimaging in Obesity Research Workshop Travel Award (2008)
- Stanford Alumni Medical Student Scholar (1995)
- Stanford Excellence in Teaching Commendation (1995)
- Phi Beta Kappa (1991)
research interests
- Appetite regulation
- Eating behavior
- Obesity
- Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
publication highlights
- 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.
- Rosenbaum JL, Melhorn SJ, Schoen S, Webb MF, De Leon MRB, Humphreys M, Utzschneider KM, Schur EA. Evidence That Hypothalamic Gliosis Is Related to Impaired Glucose Homeostasis in Adults With Obesity. Diabetes Care. 2022 Feb 1;45(2):416-424. doi: 10.2337/dc21-1535. PMID: 34848489; PMCID: PMC8914420.