Suzanne Higgs is an English psychologist. She is a Professor in the Psychobiology of Appetite at the University of Birmingham and was editor-in-chief of the journal Appetite from 2012-2022.

Suzanne Higgs
Academic background
EducationBA, MA, Somerville College, Oxford
PhD, psychology, 1996, Durham University
ThesisBenzodiazepine receptors and the control of ingestive behaviour (1996)
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Birmingham

Early life and education

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Higgs earned her Bachelor of Arts and Master's degree from the Somerville College, Oxford in 1989 before receiving her PhD in psychology from Durham University. She completed her post-doctoral research at Oxford before earning an academic position at the University of Birmingham in 1999.[1]

Career

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Higgs' research at Birmingham focused on the link between memory and food addiction. In 2002, she published Memory for recent eating and its influence on subsequent food intake, which found that when participants were reminded of when they previously ate they were less likely to overeat.[2] She followed up this research a few year later by publishing Memory and its role in appetite regulation in the journal Physiology & Behavior.[3] As a result of her academic input, Higgs was appointed editor-in-chief of the journal Appetite.[4]

In 2013, Higgs received a £333K Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant to research ways social norms can promote healthy eating.[5] This resulted in the publication of Social norms and their influence on eating behaviours in 2015, which concluded that social norms influenced food choices and intake due to fears of social judgement.[6] Due to the impact she had on her field, Higgs was appointed President-Elect of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior.[7] Following this, she was the co-recipient of a £800,000 project grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to explore how the pleasure of eating is affected by cognitive functions.[8] In 2017, Higgs collaborated with Jeff Brunstrom and Lenny Vartanian to explore how eating with other people affects appetite using funding from a ESRC grant.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Professor Suzanne Higgs". birmingham.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. ^ Higgs, Suzanne (October 2002). "Memory for recent eating and its influence on subsequent food intake". Appetite. 39 (2): 159–166. doi:10.1006/appe.2002.0500. PMID 12354684. S2CID 22842724. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. ^ Higgs, Suzanne (19 May 2005). "Memory and its role in appetite regulation". Physiology & Behavior. 85 (1): 67–72. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2005.04.003. PMID 15924907. S2CID 12971264. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. ^ "S. Higgs Editor-in-Chief, Appetite". Appetite. 59 (3). December 2012. doi:10.1016/S0195-6663(12)00417-5. S2CID 54253966. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  5. ^ "£333K grant awarded to research a social norms approach to encourage healthier eating". birmingham.ac.uk. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  6. ^ Higgs, Suzanne (March 2015). "Social norms and their influence on eating behaviours". Appetite. 86: 38–44. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2014.10.021. PMID 25451578. S2CID 13510190. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Dr Suzanne Higgs named President Elect of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior". birmingham.ac.uk. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Taking a new approach to appetite". birmingham.ac.uk. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  9. ^ "ESRC grant awarded to study how eating with others affects appetite". birmingham.ac.uk. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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