Research

Overview

Prior to and during her Ph.D. training, Dr. Steger was a program coordinator at the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management at KUMC where she developed and administered multicomponent weight management programming, coordinated clinical trials for lifestyle interventions, and provided nutrition counseling and health education for both community and research programs. Motivated by the potential of intermittent fasting (IF) regimens to fill a gap in clinical programming, she conducted her dissertation study to compare intermittent and continuous energy restriction for weight loss, weight maintenance, diet quality, and program adherence.

Seeing the potential for intermittent fasting to improve metabolic health independently of (or in addition to) weight loss, Steger pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study time-restricted eating (or daily intermittent fasting) for improving body weight, glycemic control, and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Steger currently has the ADA Junior Faculty career development award to study both types of intermittent fasting (intermittent energy restriction and time-restricted eating) for diabetes treatment. She also studies how meal timing and distribution impacts risk and treatment of other conditions, such as non-alcoholic cirrhosis and gestational diabetes.

• Intermittent Fasting for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes., American Diabetes Association, PI