Emily Panza, PhD (She/Her/Hers), is an Assistant Professor (Research) at the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a Research Scientist at The Miriam Hospital.
Dr. Panza's work aims to center marginalized communities in research on weight and cardiometabolic health. Her research investigates how social determinants of health impact cardiovascular risk behaviors and well-being in adults with obesity, including sexual and gender minority communities and people living with HIV. Her research also focuses on innovative weight loss treatments such as GLP-1 RA medications.
Dr. Panza received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 2018. She completed her pre-doctoral internship and her postdoctoral research fellowship (Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine T32) at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in Rhode Island.
| Romano KA, Panza E, Peterson CB, Hooper L, Mason TB. "(Mis)matches in Daily Weight Stigma Perpetrators' and Targets' Genders and Races Relative to Targets' Daily Disordered Eating Behaviors: Examining Differences Between Black and White Women." Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vol. 125, no. 12, 2025, pp. 1841-1852. |
| Heron KE, Shipley JL, Panza E, Sandoval CM, Turner MI, Hawn SE, Braitman AL. "Are affective states associated with disordered eating behaviors in the daily lives of sexual minority and heterosexual young women?: an ecological momentary assessment study." Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 59, no. 1, 2025. |
| Thomas, J. Graham, Panza, Emily, Perski, Olga, Goldstein, Stephanie P. "Digital Health Technology and Advanced Analytics in Lifestyle Medicine." Lifestyle Medicine, 2025, pp. 617-649. |
| Heron KE, Romano KA, Panza E, Perry NS, Dawson CA, Braitman AL. "Sexual minority stressors and disordered eating behaviors in daily life: a daily diary study of sexual minority cisgender female couples." Eating Disorders, vol. 33, no. 1, 2025, pp. 25-43. |
| Blackman Carr LT, Ard J, Shanks CB, Forman EM, Goldstein SP, Haire-Joshu D, Jastreboff AM, Johnson S, Kandula NR, Katzmarzyk PT, Keyserling TC, Kumanyika SK, Lee BY, Lewis KH, Martin MY, Mozaffarian D, Newton RL Jr, Odoms-Young A, Panza E, Pronk NP, Rosas LG, Samuel-Hodge C, Schmidt LA, Sherwood NE, Spring B, Cooksey Stowers K, Baskin ML. "Toward Health Equity: A Workshop Report on the State of the Science of Obesity Interventions for Adults." Obesity, vol. 33, no. 12, 2025, pp. 2235-2245. |
| Darling, Katherine E., Panza, Emily, Warnick, Jennifer, Small, Emma, Derrick, Annabelle, Jelalian, Elissa. "Weight Stigma in Adolescents With Obesity From Low-Income Backgrounds: Qualitative Perspectives From Adolescents and Caregivers." Journal of Adolescent Health, vol. 76, no. 5, 2025, pp. 928-934. |
| Pearl RL, Donze LF, Rosas LG, Agurs-Collins T, Baskin ML, Breland JY, Byker Shanks C, Cooksey Stowers K, Johnson S, Lee BY, Martin MY, Mujuru P, Odoms-Young A, Panza E, Pronk NP, Calicutt K, Nadglowski J, Nece PM, Tedder M, Chow LS, Krishnamurti H, Jay M, Xi D, Jastreboff AM, Stanford FC. "Ending Weight Stigma to Advance Health Equity." American Journal of Preventive Medicine, vol. 67, no. 5, 2024, pp. 785-791. |
| Bucher, Amy, Chaudhry, Beenish M., Davis, Jean W., Lawrence, Katharine, Panza, Emily, Baqer, Manal, Feinstein, Rebecca T., Fields, Sherecce A., Huberty, Jennifer, Kaplan, Deanna M., Kusters, Isabelle S., Materia, Frank T., Park, Susanna Y., Kepper, Maura. "How to design equitable digital health tools: A narrative review of design tactics, case studies, and opportunities." PLOS Digital Health, vol. 3, no. 8, 2024, pp. e0000591. |
| Poon JA, Panza EA, Selby E, Feinstein B. "Lifetime and Daily Weight Stigma among Higher Weight Sexual Minority Women: Links to Daily Weight-based Concerns, Avoidance, and Negative Affect." Stigma and health, vol. 9, no. 3, 2024, pp. 311-320. |
| Thomas, J. Graham, Panza, Emily, Goldstein, Carly M., Hayes, Jacqueline F., Benedict, Noah, O’Leary, Kevin, Wing, Rena R. "Pragmatic Implementation of Online Obesity Treatment and Maintenance Interventions in Primary Care." JAMA Internal Medicine, vol. 184, no. 5, 2024, pp. 502-509. |
| Goldstein, Carly M., Panza, Emily, Hayes, Jacqueline F., Thomas, J. Graham, O’Leary, Kevin, Wing, Rena R. "Pragmatic online obesity treatment in primary care: a hybrid randomized clinical trial of implementation strategies." npj Cardiovascular Health, vol. 1, no. 1, 2024. |
| Panza E, Olson K, Sall K, Norris A, Lillis J, Thomas JG, Dunsiger S, Fowler H, Parent H, Wing RR. "Sexual Minority Women Report Higher Weight Stigma Levels Than Heterosexual Women in the National Weight Control Registry." Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 58, no. 9, 2024, pp. 603-609. |
| Norris AL, Cornelius T, Panza E, Lewis RJ. "Stigma and the Couple: How Daily Stigma Experiences Influence Relationship Functioning and Alcohol Use in Female Cisgender Couples." Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, vol. 11, no. 3, 2024, pp. 527-537. |
| Norris AL, Cornelius T, Panza E, Lewis RJ. "Stigma and the Couple: How Daily Stigma Experiences Influence Relationship Functioning and Alcohol Use in Female Cisgender Couples." Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, vol. 11, no. 3, 2024, pp. 527-537. |
| Schram, Samantha J., Olson, KayLoni L., Panza, Emily, Lillis, Jason. "The impact of weight self-stigma on weight-loss treatment engagement and outcome." Obesity Science & Practice, vol. 10, no. 6, 2024, pp. e70015. |
| Panza, Emily, Kip, Kevin E., Venkatakrishnan, Kripa, Marroquin, Oscar C., Wing, Rena R. "Changes in body weight and glycemic control in association with COVID-19 Shutdown among 23,000 adults with type 2 diabetes." Acta Diabetologica, 2023. |
| Hayes, Jacqueline F., Schumacher, Leah M., Panza, Emily, Dunsiger, Shira I., Wing, Rena R., Unick, Jessica L. "Affective responses to overeating episodes in women participating in a behavioral weight loss program." Eating Behaviors, vol. 44, 2022, pp. 101599. |
| Wing, Rena R., Venkatakrishnan, Kripa, Panza, Emily, Marroquin, Oscar C., Kip, Kevin E. "Association of COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Orders With 1-Year Weight Changes." JAMA Network Open, vol. 5, no. 6, 2022, pp. e2217313. |
| Olson KL, Panza E, Lillis J, Wing RR. "Association of Weight-Related Stigmas With Daily Pain Symptoms Among Individuals With Obesity." Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 2022. |
| Donahue ML, Levin ME, Olson K, Panza E, Lillis J. "Examining the role of experiential avoidance and valued action in the negative effects of weight self-stigma." J Behav Med, 2022. |
| Panza E, Lillis J, Olson K, van den Berg JJ, Tashima K, Wing RR. "HIV Status, Obesity, and Risk for Weight Stigma: Comparing Weight Stigma Experiences and Internalization Among Adults with Obesity with and Without HIV." AIDS and Behavior, vol. 26, no. 3, 2022, pp. 686-697. |
| Braun, Tosca D., Olson, Kayloni, Panza, Emily, Lillis, Jason, Schumacher, Leah, Abrantes, Ana M., Kunicki, Zachary, Unick, Jessica L. "Internalized weight stigma in women with class III obesity: A randomized controlled trial of a virtual lifestyle modification intervention followed by a mindful self-compassion intervention." Obesity Science & Practice, vol. 8, no. 6, 2022, pp. 816-827. |
| Thomas JG, Panza E, Espel-Huynh HM, Goldstein CM, O'Leary K, Benedict N, Puerini AJ, Wing RR. "Pragmatic implementation of a fully automated online obesity treatment in primary care." Obesity, vol. 30, no. 8, 2022, pp. 1621-1628. |
| Panza, E., Olson, K., Selby, E.A., and Wing, R.R. "State versus trait weight, shape, and eating concerns: Disentangling influence on eating behaviors among sexual minority women." Body image, vol. 36, 2021, pp. 107-116. |
| Panza E, Wing EJ, Wing R. "Behavioral Weight Loss: A Promising Treatment for Obesity in Adults with HIV." AIDS and Behavior, vol. 24, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1085-1091. |
| Olson, KL, Lillis, J, Panza, E, Wing, RR, Quinn, DM, Puhl, RR. "Body shape concerns across racial and ethnic groups among adults in the United States: More similarities than differences." Body Image, vol. 35, 2020, pp. 108-113. |
| Panza E, Olson K, Goldstein CM, Selby EA, Lillis J. "Characterizing Lifetime and Daily Experiences of Weight Stigma among Sexual Minority Women with Overweight and Obesity: A Descriptive Study." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 17, no. 13, 2020. |
| Panza, E, Fehling, KB, Pantalone, DW, Dodson, S, Selby, EA. "Multiply marginalized: Linking minority stress due to sexual orientation, gender, and weight to dysregulated eating among sexual minority women of higher body weight." Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2020. |
| Olson, KL, Goldstein, SP, Lillis, J, Panza, E. "Weight stigma is overlooked in commercial‐grade mobile applications for weight loss and weight‐related behaviors." Obesity Science & Practice, 2020. |
| Selby, EA, Panza, E, Plasencia, M. "Positive Emotion Dysregulation in Eating Disorders and Obesity." Oxford handbook of positive emotion and psychopathology, edited by Gruber, J., New York, Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 423-443. |
| Selby EA, Kranzler A, Panza E, Fehling KB. "Bidirectional-Compounding Effects of Rumination and Negative Emotion in Predicting Impulsive Behavior: Implications for Emotional Cascades." Journal of personality, vol. 84, no. 2, 2016, pp. 139-53. |
| Schneider KL, Panza E, Handschin B, Ma Y, Busch AM, Waring ME, Appelhans BM, Whited MC, Keeney J, Kern D, Blendea M, Ockene I, Pagoto SL. "Feasibility of Pairing Behavioral Activation With Exercise for Women With Type 2 Diabetes and Depression: The Get It Study Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial." Behavior Therapy, vol. 47, no. 2, 2016, pp. 198-212. |
| Selby EA, Cornelius T, Fehling KB, Kranzler A, Panza EA, Lavender JM, Wonderlich SA, Crosby RD, Engel SG, Mitchell JE, Crow SJ, Peterson CB, Le Grange D. "A perfect storm: examining the synergistic effects of negative and positive emotional instability on promoting weight loss activities in anorexia nervosa." Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci, vol. 6, 2015, pp. 1260. |
| Schneider KL, Murphy D, Ferrara C, Oleski J, Panza E, Savage C, Gada K, Bozzella B, Olendzki E, Kern D, Lemon SC. "An online social network to increase walking in dog owners: a randomized trial." Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 47, no. 3, 2015, pp. 631-9. |
| Selby, Edward A., Kranzler, Amy, Fehling, Kara B., Panza, Emily. "Nonsuicidal self-injury disorder: The path to diagnostic validity and final obstacles." Clinical Psychology Review, vol. 38, 2015, pp. 79-91. |
| Alderman BL, Olson RL, Bates ME, Selby EA, Buckman JF, Brush CJ, Panza EA, Kranzler A, Eddie D, Shors TJ. "Rumination in major depressive disorder is associated with impaired neural activation during conflict monitoring." Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 9, 2015, pp. 269. |
| Selby, EA, Fehling, KB, Panza, EA, Kranzler, A. "Rumination, Mindfulness, and Borderline Personality Disorder Symptoms." Mindfulness, vol. 7, no. 1, 2015, pp. 228-235. |
| Selby, Edward A., Kranzler, Amy, Panza, Emily. "Development of Emotional Cascades in Borderline Personality Disorder." Handbook of Borderline Personality Disorder in Children and Adolescents, edited by Sharpe, C. & Tackett, J., new york, new york, Springer, 2014, pp. 159-176. |
| Schneider, Kristin L., Pagoto, Sherry, Panza, Emily, Keeney, Jacey, Goldberg, Dori. "Skin Cancer Risk Profiles of Physically Active Adults." Health Behavior and Policy Review, vol. 1, no. 4, 2014, pp. 324-334. |
| Selby, Edward A., Wonderlich, Stephen A., Crosby, Ross D., Engel, Scott G., Panza, Emily, Mitchell, James E., Crow, Scott J., Peterson, Carol B., Le Grange, Daniel. "Nothing Tastes as Good as Thin Feels." Clinical Psychological Science, vol. 2, no. 4, 2013, pp. 514-531. |
| Schneider KL, Ferrara J, Lance B, Karetas A, Druker S, Panza E, Olendzki B, Andersen V, Pbert L. "Acceptability of an Online Health Videogame to Improve Diet and Physical Activity in Elementary School Students: "Fitter Critters." Games for health journal, vol. 1, no. 4, 2012, pp. 262-268. |
| Schneider KL, Panza E, Appelhans BM, Whited MC, Oleski JL, Pagoto SL. "The emotional eating scale. Can a self-report measure predict observed emotional eating?." Appetite, vol. 58, no. 2, 2012, pp. 563-6. |
| Schneider, KL, Pagoto, SL, Handschin, B, Panza, E, Bakke, S, Liu, Q, Blendea, M, Ockene, IS, Ma, Y. "Design and methods for a pilot randomized clinical trial involving exercise and behavioral activation to treat comorbid type 2 diabetes and major depressive disorder." Mental Health and Physical Activity, vol. 4, no. 1, 2011, pp. 13-21. |
Dr. Panza's research is focused on improving the understanding and treatment of high body weight and cardiometabolic disease in marginalized communities, most notably sexual and gender minority communities and people living with HIV. Her work has two primary foci:
Dr. Panza's research has been funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Department of Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and others.
R01 DK136795 Idiong (Awardee), Pagoto (PI) 09/2024-08/2026
National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Disease $188,760
Diversity Supplement: A mixed methods study of Black sexual minority women with obesity
Primary Grant Title: A non-inferiority trial comparing synchronous and asynchronous remotely-delivered lifestyle interventions.
Role: Co-Mentor
K23 MD015092 Panza (PI) 07/15/2020– 4/30/2025
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities $826,488
Title: Using the Multiphase Optimization Strategy to Optimize a Culturally Tailored Online Behavioral Weight Loss Intervention for Sexual Minority Women
Unnumbered Panza (PI) 07/31/18-07/31/2020
George A. Bray Research Scholars Award Fund Fellowship $60,000
Title: Minority stress and eating behavior among adults with HIV and overweight or obesity: An Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) study
T32 HL078134 Wing (PI) 4/01/2016– 3/31/2020
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute $335,282
Title: Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship
Role: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Unnumbered Panza (PI) 10/15/2017-6/30/2018
Brown University Clinical Psychology Internship Grant $2,000
| Year | Degree | Institution |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | PhD | Rutgers University |
| 2015 | MS | Rutgers University |
| 2010 | BA | College of the Holy Cross |
| Postdoctoral Research Fellow | The Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, The Miriam Hospital, Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine T32 | 2018-2020 | Providence, RI |
| Clinical Psychology Intern | Brown University Clinical Psychology Training Consortium, behavioral medicine | 2017-2018 |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Darling, Katherine | Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences (Research), Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Dunsiger, Shira | Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Associate Professor of Biostatistics, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Goldstein, Carly | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Goldstein, Stephanie | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Lillis, Jason | Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Olson, KayLoni | Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Thomas, Graham | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research) |
| Wing, Rena | Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior |
| Clinical Psychologist | Rhode Island Department of Health | - | #PS01906 |
