William Stewart Agras (born 17 May 1929

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an American psychiatrist and psychotherapist of

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

origin, research psychiatrist and Emeritus (Active) Professor of

Psychiatry Psychiatry is the specialty (medicine), medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. These include various maladaptations related to mood, behaviour, cognition, and perceptions. See glossary of psych ...

and Behavioral Science at Stanford University. He normally goes by Stewart Agras. His primary research interest is in the application of basic psychology to investigation of behavior change in medical and psychiatric problems such as treatment compliance, essential hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors, and anxiety disorders. In 1974 he began one of the first programs in Behavioral Medicine in the United States, a program that continues today at Stanford University. Beginning in 1985 the majority of his work has been in the area of eating disorders, with studies ranging from epidemiology, basic psychological mechanisms, and treatment. The principal theme of his research has been the understanding of human feeding and its disorders, namely:

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

anorexia nervosa Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gr ...

bulimia nervosa Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eaten ...

, and

binge eating Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable eating. It is a common symptom of eating disorders such as binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an ex ...

disorder.

Biography

Agras received his MD from the Middlesex Hospital Medical School now University College of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1955. He did a residency and Fellowship in psychiatry at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in Montreal Quebec in 1956–1961. From 1961–1969 Agras was a faculty member at the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

Medical College. He then served as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the

University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) is the health sciences campus of the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and is located in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. UMMC, also referred to as the Medical Center, is the state's only aca ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

for the next four years where he developed a Department in which psychology and psychiatry were placed on an equal footing and the role of clinical psychologists became one of research and teaching. Agras was an early developer of Behavioral Therapy. He came to Stanford in 1973.Research – Laboratory for the Study of Behavioral Medicine – Stanford University School of Medicine
/ref> He was Editor of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis from 1974–1977 and of the ''

Annals of Behavioral Medicine ''Annals of Behavioral Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. It publishes original research on behavioral medicine and the integration of biologic ...

'' from 1987–1990. He was also the first President of the Society for Behavioral Medicine 1978–1979, and President of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy 1985–1986.

Publications

* Agras WS, Hammer LD, McNicholas F, Kraemer HC "Risk factors for childhood overweight: a prospective study from birth to 9.5 years." J Pediatr 2004; 145: 1: 20–5 * Agras WS, Brandt HA, Bulik CM, Dolan-Sewell R, Fairburn CG, Halmi KA, Herzog DB, Jimerson DC, Kaplan AS, Kaye WH, le Grange D, Lock J, Mitchell JE, Rudorfer MV, Street LL, Striegel-Moore R, Vitousek KM, Walsh BT, Wilfley DE "Report of the National Institutes of Health workshop on overcoming barriers to treatment research in anorexia nervosa." Int J Eat Disord 2004; 35: 4: 509–21 * Duke RE, Bryson S, Hammer LD, Agras WS "The relationship between parental factors at infancy and parent-reported control over children's eating at age 7." Appetite 2004; 43: 3: 247–52 * Kraemer HC, Wilson GT, Fairburn CG, Agras WS "Mediators and moderators of treatment effects in randomized clinical trials." Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002; 59: 10: 877–83 * McDermott C, Agras WS, Crow SJ, Halmi K, Mitchell JE, Bryson S "Participant recruitment for an anorexia nervosa treatment study." Int J Eat Disord 2004; 35: 1: 33–41

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agras, William Stewart American psychiatrists American psychotherapists 1929 births Living people Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Alumni of the University of London British emigrants to the United States