Beat is delighted that Professor Ulrike Schmidt has been named as one of the NHS70 women leaders in recognition of her contribution to the treatment and understanding of eating disorders.
As consultant psychiatrist Professor Schmidt has led the eating disorders adult out-patient program at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, one of the leading services in the country, helping many sufferers to reach and maintain recovery.
Professor Schmidt has pioneered early intervention in treatment for eating disorders, including designing the FREED evidence-based model, tailored to treat young people within four weeks of referral if they have suffered for less than three years. This treatment was first developed at the South London and Maudsley Trust, and will soon be rolled out in treatment centres across the country.
Ulrike Schmidt is also Professor of Eating Disorders and Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. She has devoted herself to research on eating disorder treatment, Including the development of a new form of psychotherapy for the treatment of adults with anorexia and the use of novel non-invasive ‘brain stimulation’ treatments. She has also published hundreds of peer-reviewed academic papers and supervised many PhDs.
Of her award, Professor Schmidt said, “I am thrilled and humbled to have been chosen as one of the NHS70 Women Leaders, thanks to my brilliant colleagues from the Maudsley Eating Disorders Unit. As a European citizen who has grown up with and worked in a different health care system, I feel very passionate about our unique and precious NHS, its values and its future.”
Congratulating Professor Schmidt on the news, Beat’s Chief Executive Andrew Radford said, “Professor Schmidt has been phenomenal in her work to end the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders.
“Thanks to her research, eating disorder sufferers have received better treatment and many have recovered.
“Professor Schmidt’s work shows how early intervention in the treatment of eating disorders can hugely improve people’s chances of recovery. We look forward to continued progress with early intervention and evidence-based treatment in the future.”