Dr. Jennifer Couturier is a child and adolescent psychiatrist and Medical Co-Director of the Pediatric Eating Disorders Program at McMaster Children’s Hospital. She holds academic appointments across multiple departments in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University, with her primary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. She is also an associate member in the Departments of Pediatrics and Health Research Methods, Evidence & Impact.

Dr. Couturier’s research is centered on evaluating and implementing evidence-based treatments for eating disorders, with current work focusing on Family-Based Treatment, fecal microbiota transplant, virtual parent-led peer support groups, and more. She has a particular interest in bridging the gap between research and clinical practice to improve care for children, adolescents, and families affected by eating disorders. Highly published and widely recognized in the field, Dr. Couturier has contributed extensively to clinical practice guidelines and has supervised numerous medical, graduate, and undergraduate students. She is passionate about ensuring that youth and families receive accessible, effective, and compassionate care grounded in the best available evidence.

Sadaf is a physician with a background in pediatrics and a strong focus on clinical research. She holds a medical degree from Jinnah Sindh Medical University in Karachi, Pakistan, and completed a Clinical Research Associate Certification (CCRA) at McMaster University. For the past six years, she has played a vital role as a research assistant under the guidance of Dr. Jennifer Couturier at McMaster University, contributing significantly to research focused on treatments for eating disorders in youth. Her research focuses on improving treatment access and delivery for youth with eating disorders, with particular emphasis on family-based treatment, guided self-help and waitlist intervention models, and the development of national practice guidelines. She is currently involved in a multi-center trial evaluating guided self-help family-based treatment for adolescent anorexia nervosa.

Maria completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University and worked for two years as a research assistant in the School of Nursing with Dr. Jennifer Couturier. She continues to collaborate with Dr. Couturier as a research coordinator and doctoral student. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions for individuals with eating disorders and their caregivers, addressing weight stigma in healthcare, and advancing patient-engaged and mixed-methods research. Her doctoral work is dedicated to improving transitions in care from pediatric to adult services for youth with eating disorders.

Tovah completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Western Ontario (now Western University) in the Scholar’s Electives program (French and Psychology). She then completed her graduate work at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida with Drs. Bill Sacco and J. Kevin Thompson. Her work focused primarily on eating behaviours and perceptions of body size. She is now working with Dr. Jennifer Couturier as a research assistant contributing to her grant studying the real-world implementation of Guided Self-Help Family-Based Treatment.

Ethan completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology at McMaster University, followed by a Master’s degree in Child Psychology at University College London. His graduate research focused on clinicians’ experiences of delivering therapy to refugee and asylum-seeking youth. Ethan currently works as a research assistant with Dr. Jennifer Couturier, supporting a multi-site study the implementation of Guided Self-Help Family-Based Treatment (GSH-FBT).

Emily completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of Guelph, followed by two years of work as a behavioural therapist. She then earned a Master’s degree in Criminology from Bond University in Australia, where she also worked as a Research Assistant in the Department of Criminology. Emily went on to research at Queensland Police Headquarters in the Domestic & Family Violence and Vulnerable Persons Unit. Upon returning to Canada, she joined Dr. Jennifer Couturier’s research team at McMaster Children’s Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. Her research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions for youth with eating disorders, examining the impact of childhood maltreatment on domestic violence victimization, and exploring the protective role of social support in the lives of individuals affected by violence.