Ashley Gearhardt was a doctoral candidate at Yale University when she and colleagues developed the Yale Food Addiction Scale, published in 2009 as the first tool for assessing Food Addiction in individuals. The scale, as modified in 2016, is a 35-point questionnaire based on criteria used in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association.
Gearhardt teaches at the University of Michigan, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She is clinical science area chair and a professor of psychology, while also operating the Food Addiction Science and Treatment (FAST) Lab. She has published over 100 academic publications and her research has been reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Today Show, ABC News, Good Morning America, and National Public Radio.
