Rebecca Puhl

Dr. Rebecca Puhl is Professor of Human Development & Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut. She is also the Deputy Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, where she leads research and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight-based stigma and discrimination. Dr. Puhl received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University. She has authored more than 140 peer reviewed articles and 24 chapters on topics including weight-based bullying in youth, the impact of weight stigma on emotional and physical health, weight stigma in health care and the media, and policy strategies to reduce weight-based bullying and discrimination.

As a national research expert on weight stigma, Dr. Puhl has testified in legislative hearings on weight discrimination and routinely provides expertise on strategies to reduce weight bias to national and international health organizations. She has also developed evidence-based trainings to reduce weight stigma in health care that have been implemented in medical facilities across the U.S., and her work is routinely cited in the national media. Dr. Puhl has received multiple awards for her research, both at UConn and from national organizations, such as the National Eating Disorders Coalition, the Obesity Action Coalition, and The Obesity Society who selected Dr. Puhl as the 2018 recipient of the national scientific achievement award for excellence in an established research career. In 2019, she was the inaugural recipient of the Faculty Excellence in Research Award in Public Scholarship from UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. You can visit www.uconnruddcenter.org for more information about Dr. Puhl’s work.