Penn Nursing’s Ariana Chao, assistant professor in the department of biobehavioral health sciences, was awarded the 2020 Rising Star Research Award from the Eastern Nursing Research Society (ERNS) during its 32nd Annual Scientific Sessions, held virtually last month. The award recognizes a junior investigator that has shown promise in establishing a program of health and/or nursing research.

Dr. Chao’s program of research is dedicated to examining bio-behavioral mechanisms related to obesity, addictive-like eating behaviors and binge-eating disorder. She translates her findings into innovative clinical strategies to improve treatment for people with these conditions. Her research has been published in journals that reach a wide an interdisciplinary readership, including Clinical Obesity, Obesity, Journal of Nursing Scholarship and Journal of Behavioral Medicine.