Unravelling Moral Injury in Eating Disorders in Young Adults. MRC GW4 BioMed DTP PhD studentship for 2026/27 Entry, Department of Psychology Ref: 5646

Supervisors

Lead Supervisor: Professor Larysa Zasiekina  - University of Exeter - Department of Psychology 

Co-Supervisors:  

Dr Livia Tomova - Cardiff University - Psychology, Brain Research Imaging Centre 

Dr Fidan Turk - University of Exeter - Department of Psychology 

The GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP is offering up to 17 funded studentships across a range of biomedical disciplines, with a start date of October 2026.

These four-year studentships provide funding for fees and stipend at the rate set by the UK Research Councils, as well as other research training and support costs, and are available to UK and International students.

About the GW4 BioMed2 Doctoral Training Partnership

The partnership brings together the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff (lead) and Exeter to develop the next generation of biomedical researchers. Students will have access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of the four research-intensive universities, with opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary and 'team science'. The DTP already has over 90 studentships over 6 cohorts in its first phase, along with 80 students over 4 cohorts in its second phase.

The 122 projects available for application, are aligned to the following themes;

• Infection, Immunity, Antimicrobial Resistance and Repair

• Neuroscience and Mental Health

• Population Health Sciences

Applications open on 1 September 2025 and close at 5.00pm on 20th October 2025.

Please note that we may close the application process before the stated deadline if an unprecedented number of applications are received– check our website for details.

Studentships will be 4 years full time. Part time study may also be available.

Project Information

Research Theme:  Neuroscience & Mental Health

Summary:

Are you interested in how mental health, moral experiences, and brain function are connected? Join our exciting PhD project and develop advanced skills in neuroimaging and clinical psychology. This PhD investigates the role of moral injury in eating disorders (EDs) by examining neurocognitive mechanisms through fMRI, qualitative interviews and psychometric assessment. It aims to identify distinct brain activation patterns linked to morally injurious experiences and explore how these mechanisms operate in individuals with EDs. The project will build a framework to guide treatment and show how moral injury may be a hidden risk in EDs, helping improve care. 

Description:

Background 

Eating disorders (EDs) are complex psychiatric conditions with serious physical and mental health consequences. Despite existing evidence- based treatments, many individuals remain treatment-resistant, experiencing only partial recovery or relapse (Byrne et al., 2017; Linardon & Wade, 2018). This highlights the urgent need to explore novel mechanisms that underlie the development and persistence of EDs to improve treatment outcomes. 

One such underexplored factor is moral injury, defined as psychological distress resulting from the violation of deeply held moral beliefs, and often marked by feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal (Litz et al., 2009; Farnsworth et al., 2017; Zasiekina et al., 2024). While moral injury has been explored in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it remains largely absent from ED research. Guilt and shame, key components of moral injury, are well-documented affective drivers of ED symptoms (Bottera et al., 2020; Raffone et al., 2025). Similarly, betrayal, whether perceived as social stigma or emotional neglect from close others, may contribute to ED onset and maintenance by eroding trust and reinforcing feelings of unworthiness (Rossi et al., 2024). 

This study targets young adults, as late adolescence and early adulthood represent a critical developmental period marked by psychological vulnerability and major life transitions (Costarelli & Patsai, 2012; Mills et al., 2012; Thompson et al., 2021; Walter et al., 2022). Despite this, young adults are underrepresented in ED research, which has traditionally focused on adolescents. 

Interest in the “moral brain” has grown across psychiatric fields (Seara- Cardoso, 2023), but this work has yet to be extended to EDs. Neurobiological distinctions between PTSD and moral injury highlight the involvement of brain regions associated with moral reasoning and emotional self-awareness, such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), and the default mode network (DMN) (Barnes et al., 2019; Lloyd et al., 2021). While PTSD is characterised by precuneus hyperactivation linked to threat and memory processing, moral injury and potentially eating disorders shows altered ACC–precuneus connectivity, reflecting heightened self-referential and moral-emotional processing (Terpou et al., 2022). The ACC, in particular, may play a key role in how unresolved guilt, shame and sense of betrayal contribute to disordered eating behaviors as attempts to regulate internal moral injury. However, the specific neurocognitive ACC pathways linking moral injury and EDs remain unclear. 

This project aims to address this gap by investigating the role of moral injury in EDs. It seeks to identify the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying this relationship and to develop a novel, trauma-informed, moral injury-based clinical framework. Using a transdiagnostic model (Fairburn et al., 2003), the study will examine ED symptoms rather than focusing on specific diagnostic subtypes, acknowledging the fluidity of ED presentations (Fairburn et al., 2003). 

Research Questions 

RQ1: What morally injurious experiences related to food or relationships influence ED symptoms through guilt, shame, and betrayal? 

RQ2: Do individuals with EDs show an association between functional ACC-precuneus connectivity during moral-emotional processing tasks (vignette-based scenarios eliciting guilt, shame, betrayal), and severity of moral injury symptoms? 

Methodology 

Years 1-2. The study will begin with systematic literature review and a qualitative phase, conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 young adults diagnosed with EDs to explore lived experiences of moral injury. Thematic analysis will identify potential moral injurious experience (situations) and inform the development of survey tools and the clinical framework. 

Years 3-4. This will be followed by quantitative and neurocognitive substudies. A total of 40–60 participants with EDs will be assessed using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q 6.0; Fairburn & Beglin, 1994), applying clinical cut-off scores for adolescents and adults (Velkoff et al., 2023), and the Moral Injury and Distress Scale (MIDS), with clinically significant moral injury defined as MIDS ≥ 27 (Norman et al., 2024). Participants will undergo fMRI scanning. 

During scanning, each participant will undergo both conditions in a counterbalanced order: (1) exposure to emotionally salient moral conflict vignettes (e.g., betrayal by healthcare providers) developed from the qualitative phase, and (2) exposure to morally neutral vignettes matched for complexity and length. The primary outcome will be differences in ACC-precuneus functional connectivity between the moral conflict and neutral conditions. We will assess if this neural measure correlates with moral injury symptom severity exploring how moral injury interacts with ED symptoms at the neurocognitive level. 

Ethical considerations include participants’ right to withdraw at any time. All participants will receive mental health resource information, and a psychologist will be available if further support is needed. 

Student Involvement 

The student will take full ownership of the project, with support from the supervisory team. They will lead the development of research questions, adapt methodological approaches, and synthesise data. The student will receive comprehensive training in systematic reviews, qualitative and quantitative research methods, co-production, clinical ethics, and neuroimaging analysis. This interdisciplinary training will support the integration of neurocognitive data and experiential knowledge to advance clinical understanding of moral injury in EDs.

Funding

This studentship is funded through GW4BioMed2 MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. It consists of UK tuition fees, as well as a Doctoral Stipend matching UK Research Council National Minimum (£20,780 p.a. for 2025/26, updated each year).

Additional research training and support funding of up to £5,000 per annum is also available.

Eligibility

Residency:

The GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP studentships are available to UK and International applicants. Following Brexit, the UKRI now classifies EU students as international unless they have rights under the EU Settlement Scheme. The GW4 partners have agreed to cover the difference in costs between home and international tuition fees. This means that international candidates will not be expected to cover this cost and will be fully funded but need to be aware that they will be required to cover the cost of their student visa, healthcare surcharge and other costs of moving to the UK to do a PhD.  All studentships will be competitively awarded and there is a limit to the number of International students that we can accept into our programme (up to 30% cap across our partners per annum).

Academic criteria:

Applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a first or upper second-class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualification gained outside the UK, in an appropriate area of medical sciences, computing, mathematics or the physical sciences.  Applicants with a lower second class will only be considered if they also have a Master’s degree. Please check the entry requirements of the home institution for each project of interest before completing an application. Academic qualifications are considered alongside significant relevant non-academic experience.

English requirements:

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements for the University of Exeter by the start of the programme. Please refer to the details in the following web page for further information https://www.exeter.ac.uk/study/englishlanguagerequirements/

Please check the relevant English Language requirements of the university that will host the PhD project.  

Data Protection

If you are applying for a place on a collaborative programme of doctoral training provided by Cardiff University and other universities, research organisations and/or partners please be aware that your personal data will be used and disclosed for the purposes set out below.

Your personal data will always be processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations of 2018. Cardiff University (“University”) will remain a data controller for the personal data it holds, and other universities, research organisations and/or partners (“HEIs”) may also become data controllers for the relevant personal data they receive as a result of their participation in the collaborative programme of doctoral training (“Programme”).

Further Information

For an overview of the MRC GW4 BioMed programme please see the website www.gw4biomed.ac.uk

Entry requirements

Academic Requirements

Applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a first or upper second-class UK honours degree, or the equivalent qualification gained outside the UK, in an appropriate area of medical sciences, computing, mathematics or the physical sciences. Applicants with a lower second class will only be considered if they also have a Master’s degree. Please check the entry requirements of the home institution for each project of interest before completing an application. Academic qualifications are considered alongside significant relevant non-academic experience.

English Language Requirements

If English is not your first language you will need to meet the English language requirements for the University of Exeter by the start of the programme. Please refer to the relevant university website for further information.  This will be at least 6.5 in IELTS or an acceptable equivalent.  Please refer to the English Language requirements web page for further information.

Please check the relevant English Language requirements of the university that will host the PhD project. 

How to apply

A list of all the projects and how to apply is available on the DTP’s website at gw4biomed.ac.uk.  You may apply for up to 2 projects and submit one application per candidate only.

Please complete an application to the GW4 BioMed2 MRC DTP for an ‘offer of funding’.  If successful, you will also need to make an application for an 'offer to study' to your chosen institution.

Please complete the online application form linked from our website by 5.00pm on Monday, 20th October 2025.  Please note that we may close the application process before the stated deadline if an unprecedented number of applications are received– check the DTP’s website for details and updates

If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be notified from Tuesday, 23rd December 2025.  Interviews will be held virtually on 27th and 28th January 2026.  

Further Information

For informal enquiries, please contact GW4BioMed@cardiff.ac.uk

For project related queries, please contact the respective supervisors listed on the project descriptions on our website.

Summary