Meet Our Principal Investigator

Katy Darling, PhD, is a pediatric psychologist and Assistant Professor (Research) at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a Researcher at The Miriam Hospital. She is also affiliated with the department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown School of Public Health.

Dr. Darling’s research focuses on improving physical and psychosocial health outcomes for youth at higher weight statuses and developing interventions to decrease weight bias and stigma for these youth. Her work is primarily centered around adolescents from low-income backgrounds. She is also focused on developing pediatrician-focused interventions to improve youth experience discussing weight and related health behaviors in the primary care setting.

Dr. Darling received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Kent State University in 2019. She completed her predoctoral psychology internship (Pediatric Psychology) and postdoctoral research fellowship (F32; AHRQ) at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is a licensed clinical psychologist in Rhode Island.

  1. Darling, K. E., Evans, E. W., Elwy, A. R., Klinepier, K., & Jelalian, E. (2024). Scaling and sustaining research tested interventions: Lessons learned from Rhode Island Childhood Obesity Demonstration 3.0. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 14, 472-478.
  2. Merwin, R. M., Dmitrieva, N. O., Moskovich, A. A., Warnick, J. L., Goebel-Fabbri, A. E., Swartz Topor, L., & Darling, K. E. (2024). Profiles of disordered eating behaviors in type 1 diabetes using the DEPS-R and behavior and glycemic outcomes in a real-life setting. Diabetic Medicine, 41,
  3. Darling, K. E., Warnick, J., Guthrie, K., Santos, M., & Jelalian, E. (2023). Referral to
    adolescent weight management interventions: Qualitative perspectives from providers. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 48, 815-824. 
  4. Evans, E. W., Darling, K. E., Egbert, A., Hayes, J. F., Jelalian, E., Warnick, J., Topor, L. S., &
    Goldschmidt, A. B. (2023). Leveraging seasonality and timing to optimize pediatric weight management interventions: Novel directions for future research. Obesity Science Practice, 9, 688-695.
  5.  Warnick, J., Darling, K. E., Topor, L., & Jelalian, E. (2023). Formative development of a weight management intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and obesity. Pediatric Diabetes.
  6. Darling, K. E., West, C. E., Jelalian, E., Putt, G. E., & Sato, A. F. (2023). Brief report: The
    buffering effect of family support on the association between weight-based teasing and adolescent weight management outcomes. Journal of Family Psychology.
  7.  Darling, K. E., Warnick, J., Guthrie, K. M., Santos, M., & Jelalian, E. (2023). Weight
    management engagement for teens from low-income backgrounds: Qualitative perspectives from adolescents and caregivers. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 48, 593-601.
  8.  Sato, A. F., Darling, K. E., Fahrenkamp, A. J., Ruzicka, E. B., Shields, C., & Wilson, S. M.
    (2023). Multi-method evaluation of the association between stress and eating among adolescents. Appetite, 184, 106486.
  9. Darling, K.E., Hayes, J., Evans, E. W. E., Sanchez, I., Chachra, J., Grenga, A., Elwy, A. R., &
    Jelalian, R. (2023). Engaging stakeholders to adapt an evidence-based family healthy weight program. Translational Behavioral Medicine, ibac113.
  10. Darling, K.E., Warnick, J., Guerry, W., & Rancourt, D. (2022). Adolescent females’ dyadic conversations about body, weight, and appearance. Journal of Adolescent Research, 07435584221120111.
  11. Warnick, J., Darling, K. E., & Rancourt, D. (2022). The association between negative body talk and body shame on disordered eating symptoms among college students. Eating Behaviors, 46, 101648. PMID: 35753288
  12.  Warnick, J., Darling, K. E., West, C. E., Jones, L. C., & Jelalian, E. (2022). Systematic review of the association between weight bias and mental health in children and adolescents. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 47, 237-255. PMID: 34791368
  13. Darling, K. E., Hayes, J., Evans, E. W. E., Seifer, R., Jelalian, E., & Elwy, A. R. (2021).
    Implementation of the JOIN for ME family-based childhood obesity program in families from low-income backgrounds: The use of theory driven formative evaluation – RI-CORD 3.0. Childhood Obesity, 17 (S1), S22 – S29. PMCID: PMC8574201.
  14. Darling, K. E., Rancourt, D., Evans, E. W. E., Ranzenhofer, L., & Jelalian, E. (2021). Adolescent weight management intervention in a non-clinical setting: changes in disordered eating and depressive symptoms. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 42, 579-587.
  15. Darling, K. E., Razenhofer, L., Hadley, W., Villalta, D., Kasper, V., & Jelalian, E. (2020). Negative childhood experiences and disordered eating in adolescents in a weight management program: The role of depressive symptoms. Eating Behaviors, 38, 101402. PMCID: PMC7534901; DOI: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2020.101402

You can view Katy’s complete CV here.

Our Research Team

Andrea Grenga

Project Director

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Andrea is a Project Director at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center who is experienced in the management of large-scale pediatric and adult behavioral research studies. She joined the Darling Research Lab in 2024 and is proud to be contributing to research projects designed to reduce stigma and support adolescents in their health goals.

Lindsay Stager

Post-Doctoral Fellow

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Lindsay Stager, PhD completed her graduate training in Medical/Clinical psychology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham and her clinical residency through The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow supported by The Miriam Hospital and Brown University. Her research focuses on the intersection of pediatric sleep and cardiometabolic health.

Rivkah Cohen-Affonso

Community Outreach Specialist

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Rivkah is the in-house specialist for community-based research at the center where Darling Lab is based. They hold a B.A. in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Boston University and got their start in health equity research with the Partners in Contraceptive Choice and Knowledge at Boston University School of Medicine. They leverage these experiences to provide intersectional perspectives on medicine through lenses like race, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ identities, neurodivergence, and more.

Annabelle Derrick

Research Assistant

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Annabelle graduated from Skidmore College in 2023 where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. During her undergraduate education, she gained experience with topics related to body image / weight stigma and qualitative data collection. She joined the Darling Lab in June 2023 and will be shortly pursuing a Masters in Public Health at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Emma Smrstik

Research Assistant

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Emma graduated from Cornell University in 2024 where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Development. During her undergraduate education, she gained experience with topics related to self-esteem, public health, and social psychology. She joined the Darling Lab in October 2024 and is interested in pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology in the future.

Lab Alumni & Past Contributors

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Emma Small

Former Research Assistant

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Cindy Sanchez

Community Health Worker

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