She received her PhD from the University of California at Berkeley in 2006 and A BA in Sociology from Linfield College in 1996. Her first book, Killer Fat: Media, Medicine and Morals in the American Obesity Epidemic is forthcoming from Rutgers University Press. The book is a sociological investigation of the development and significance of the American obesity epidemicWith Professor C.J. Pascoe she is currently co-authoring a book entitled Anas, Mias and Wannas: Identity and Community in a Pro-Ana Subculture. In it they examine online pro-eating disorder communities.