biography
education / training
B.A.
University of Pennsylvania (honors scholar)
Biological Basis of Behavior, Theater Arts
Ph.D.
University of California, Davis
Nutrition Science
in association with the Dept. of Neurobiology, Physiology, & Behavior
Post-Doctoral Fellowship
Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Service de Nutrition | Paris, France
Institute National de la Sante et de la Research Medicale (INSERM)
M.D.
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Residency
University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Dept. of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
UCLA-SFV Psychiatry Residency Program
Chief Resident, Outpatient Mental Health
Diplomate
board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (recertified 2022)
related professional experience
current:
University of California, Los Angeles
David Geffen School of Medicine
Adj. Asst. Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences
Instructor, Medical Neuroscience II
University of Southern California
Keck School of Medicine
Adj. Professor of Psychiatry & The Biobehavioral Sciences
Semel Institute for Neuroscience at UCLA | Los Angeles, CA
Psychiatry Residency Didactic Curriculum
Lecturer, Psychiatry Residency Program
former:
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center | Los Angeles, CA
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital
Medical Director and Attending Psychiatrist,
Adult Eating Disorders Program (inpatient unit and partial hospital)
2012 - 2015
Monte Nido & affiliates eating disorder recovery programs
Chief of Psychiatry -- West Coast
Monte Nido / Monte Nido Vista -- residential treatment | Malibu, CA
Eating Disorder Center of California -- partial hospital program | Los Angeles, CA
Eating Disorder Center of Newport Beach
2017 - 2019
Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital | Los Angeles, CA
Attending Psychiatrist, General Outpatient Clinic
2015 - 2016
University of Southern California | Los Angeles, CA
Department of Psychiatry & The Behavioral Sciences
Lecturer, Psychiatry Residency Program
University of Vermont College of Medicine | Burlington, VT
Principal Consultant,
revised curriculum on Nutrition, Metabolism, and GI Function
University of California, Davis | Davis, CA
Adj. Asst. Professor of Nutrition
USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center at UC Davis
Senior Scientist
Director, Food Intake Behavior Research Program
National Conference Organizer and CoChair, "Obesity and Food Insecurity in the U.S." (2002)
Entelos, Inc. - Biological Systems Modeling | Menlo Park, CA
Behavioral Engineer, Obesity Pathophysiology Neurobiologic Model
Penn State University, Department of Nutritional Sciences | State College, PA
Asst. Professor of Nutritional Sciences
Director, Laboratory for the Study of Ingestive Behavior
professional societies
American Psychiatric Association
Southern California Psychiatric Society
American Society for Nutrition
Academy for Eating Disorders
The Obesity Society (antecedent)
publications and press
Dr. Specter is lead or co-author of 19 scientific papers, book chapters, or abstracts on ingestive behavior and energy metabolism. His work has been published in research journals internationally, including the American Journal of Physiology, Cahiers de Nutrition et de Diétetique, the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and has been reported in the media and popular press, including The New York Times, NPR, CBS Health Watch, and The Independent in The UK, as well as referenced on the Wikipedia Obesity page.
See the October, 2019 interview given by Dr. Specter to National Public Radio's Science Desk Editor April Fulton on the "too-healthy eating" phenomenon, orthorexia:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/07/766847274/when-efforts-to-eat-clean-become-an-unhealthy-obsession
Read Dr. Specter's seminal review on the link between body image disturbance, disordered eating, and substance abuse in males (see below).
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/07/766847274/when-efforts-to-eat-clean-become-an-unhealthy-obsession
Read Dr. Specter's seminal review on the link between body image disturbance, disordered eating, and substance abuse in males (see below).
| S.E. Specter, D. Wiss. Muscle Dysmorphia: Where body image obsession, compulsive exercise, disordered eating, and substance abuse intersect in susceptible males.pdf |