Academic career

Tchanturia became an associate professor at Tbilisi State University in 1995. After relocating to London in 1997, she became a clinical research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London in 1998. She was later appointed a Lecturer in Mental Health Studies and Eating Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience in 2004. Tchanturia’s research primarily concerns the cognitive and socio-emotional aspects of eating disorders, implementing positive psychology in clinical practice. She has adapted a cognitive training programme for eating disorders, called Cognitive Remediation Therapy, which seeks to address inflexible and overly detail-focused cognitive styles in patients with eating disorders. Her latest research investigates the nature of autistic traits in patients with eating disorders.^[2] She has developed a novel clinical pathway for patients with comorbid autism and eating disorders at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust National Eating Disorders Service.^[3]

Clinical career

Tchanturia worked as a clinical psychologist at Tbilisi City Psychiatric Hospital from 1982-1994.^[5] She was then appointed to the role of Consultant Clinical Psychologist for the Outpatient Department of the Institute of Psychiatry in Tbilisi.

After relocating to the United Kingdom, Tchanturia worked as a Clinical Research Fellow at Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London from 1998-2003. She subsequently continued her work as a locum psychologist and later Consultant (lead) Clinical Psychologist in 2004 for the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust from and is currently employed in this role. Tchanturia developed group therapy protocols^[6] for the inpatient treatment programme for eating disorders as well as two evidence-based individual psychological interventions: cognitive remediation therapy (CRT)^[7] and Cognitive Remediation and Emotion Skills Training (CREST).^[8] Most of the clinical manuals have been adapted for younger age groups and translated in different languages.^[9]

Pathway for Eating Disorders and Autism

Tchanturia’s research paved the way for the extensive research at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust eating disorders service. Research from her lab identified an overlap between autism and eating disorders and found that approximately 35% of women with anorexia nervosa have comorbid autism. However, females are at elevated risk of their autism going undiagnosed as their difficulties are frequently mislabelled or missed entirely. Therefore, women in eating disorder services who have comorbid autism often go undiagnosed and fail to receive appropriate treatment.^[2] Professor Tchanturia and colleagues have developed and implemented a novel clinical pathway tailored to the needs of autistic patients with eating disorders: The PEACE Pathway (Pathway for Eating disorders and Autism developed from Clinical Experience).^[10] This clinical pathway was funded by The Health Foundation and further supported by The Maudsley Charity. The novel pathway was developed using the Institute for Healthcare’s Model of Improvement methodology, using an iterative Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) format to introduce change and to co-produce the work with people with lived experience, carers and clinicians.^[2]

Based on findings from their qualitative studies that mapped out the needs for the three stakeholders,^[11] Tchanturia and colleagues collaboratively engaged people with lived experience, carers, and clinicians from the National Eating Disorder Service to develop the PEACE clinical pathway.

As the Principal Investigator of the PEACE Pathway, Tchanturia has been disseminating her findings through several means, including a book,^[12] peer-reviewed publications, social media platforms, conferences around the world, interviews with the media and a website.^[13] The website includes a range of free resources and blog posts.