Furman University

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Kerstin Blomquist Bio

Dr. Kerstin Blomquist has always had a passion for teaching and is excited to teach and mentor students at Furman!

Kerstin has her Ph.D. in clinical psychology and has a long-standing interest in the intersection of social psychology and health behaviors including obesity, disordered eating, and body image. She investigates risk and maintenance factors for disordered eating and obesity as well as mechanisms for preventing and treating these problems. Her overarching research goal is to develop effective, sustainable community-based interventions to prevent eating and weight disorders. She is strongly invested in working with parents, families, and communities to improve overall public health. 

Kerstin grew up in North Carolina and discovered her passion for investigating human behavior in a high school psychology class. These interests deepened at Wellesley College under the mentorship of Elissa Koff, Ph.D. and Steven Schiavo, Ph.D., where she pursued double majors in psychology and French. Kerstin received her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Vanderbilt University where she examined the effect of romantic relationships on women’s body dissatisfaction and the role of weight dissatisfaction in obesity-related eating behaviors among African Americans and Caucasians under the supervision of David Schlundt, Ph.D.

To complement her research interests and solidify her clinical experience treating disordered eating behaviors as well as mood and anxiety disorders, Kerstin completed her clinical psychology internship at the UC San Diego eating and mood disorder clinics. In order to fully integrate her research and clinical interests, she accepted a postdoctoral position, followed by an associate research scientist position, to work with Carlos Grilo, Ph.D. and Robin Masheb, Ph.D. on several randomized controlled clinical trials for obese individuals with binge eating disorder at Yale School of Medicine.

After living in many beautiful places including Canada, France, and on both coasts of the United States, she is thrilled to be able to thoroughly explore South Carolina! In her spare time, she enjoys being active outdoors. Some of her favorite activities include cycling, running, swimming, triathlons, and Ultimate Frisbee.