Walter Kaye, M.D.

Bio

Dr. Walter Kaye is a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in treating individuals with anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders. An internationally recognized leader in the field, he is the director of the Eating Disorders Program at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, where he coordinates the treatment of patients in the Medical Behavioral Unit. He is also the director of the Eating Disorders Treatment and Research Program at UC San Diego and a professor in the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, where he instructs medical students and residents.

Using a family-based treatment approach called the Maudsley model, Dr. Kaye and his team work with parents to help them understand the symptoms of anorexia and bulimia, and to develop better ways of managing and interacting with their children. This approach has been shown to improve outcomes and reduce relapses. Rady Children's and UC San Diego are among the only places that provide Maudsley family-based treatment, which requires specialized training. As a result, patients come to Rady Children's from throughout the country and around the world for this expertise.

Dr. Kaye's research seeks to understand why individuals develop eating disorders and use what is learned to develop more effective treatments. He has worked to identify genes that contribute to the development of anorexia and bulimia nervosa, and has used brain imaging to document pathways associated with anxiety and obsessive behaviors surrounding food and eating. He is the author of more than 300 articles and publications

Prior to working at UC San Diego and Rady Children's, Dr. Kaye was on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, where he was the research director of the eating disorder program and received a National Institute of Mental Health senior scientist award.