颁测苍迟丑颈补听Bulik and Patrick Sullivan have created a life full of听adventure and research听spanning听decades, continents, and disciplines.
In 1978, Cynthia 鈥淐indy鈥� Bulik navigated a crowded University of Notre Dame dorm room, looking for a way to ditch a party she was dragged to by her roommate. It was the first-year鈥檚 second day on campus, and this was not her kind of scene. But Bulik鈥檚 sentiment shifted when she noticed a young man.听
鈥淭his guy came running into the room totally sweaty, didn鈥檛 really interact with anyone, and splashed water on his face,鈥� says Bulik, now the Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders within the 大象传媒 (SOM). 鈥淚 remember thinking that he was cute. And then I talked to him, and he was smart too.鈥�听
Patrick Sullivan, the Yeargan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics within SOM, also remembers that night well. The sophomore was finishing up a run when he returned to a party thrown by his roommates.听
鈥淚 was totally taken by Cindy from the very start,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淚 remember telling someone I had this feeling that she and I would be together long-term. And I was right.鈥�听
Bulik听and听Sullivan听are established researchers who have made groundbreaking progress in the field of eating disorders and genetics both separately and together. They have created a family and community that allows their love for science and each other to thrive.听听
A transformative semester听
It wasn鈥檛 long after their serendipitous dorm party encounter that Bulik and Sullivan were an item. For Bulik, it was the first of many fateful encounters Bulik had that semester at Notre Dame. The second happened in a lecture hall, during an intro to psychology course she tried to drop.听
鈥淚 wanted to be a diplomat and study international relations, not psychology,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淏ut my first class with听, who went on to create the field of social neuroscience, was a moment in my life when everything just clicked.鈥�听
Within a week of that class, Bulik was in Cacioppo鈥檚 office discussing projects that she could get involved in. Her path to psychology was set.听
Several weeks later, her life course was altered again 鈥� this time at a football game.听听
鈥淚 was in the student section and these guys grabbed me from behind, lifted me up, and passed me over their heads to other people in the stands. I was scared to death,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淎nd then they dropped me. It broke my back.鈥�听
The injury impaired Bulik鈥檚 ability to move, and she went home to Pittsburgh to be with her parents for the rest of that semester. She continued her studies from afar, along with her relationship with Sullivan, whose care and support continued to strengthen their bond.听
In the spring, Bulik returned to Notre Dame to pick up where she left off, all while learning to cope with the new limitations caused by her spine injury.听
Travel and training听
As the duo neared the end of their undergraduate studies, Sullivan was unsure of his next steps.听
鈥淚 tried to write my personal statement for medical school and couldn鈥檛 get past the first sentence,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 took that as a sign that I needed to figure some things out, so I took time off and traveled across Europe.鈥�听
Meanwhile, Bulik went back to Pittsburgh to be a research associate in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She dove into projects on sleep and depression and was introduced to the study of eating disorders.听
鈥淚 shadowed the attending psychiatrist on the eating disorders unit,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淎 lot of the patients were around my age and had severe anorexia nervosa, and it just hit me.鈥�听
Bulik was a figure skater and had been around eating disorders for most of her life but wasn鈥檛 able to identify them as such. No one had discussed that this was a health issue. It was an experience that defined the course of her career.听
She made plans to pursue a clinical psychology graduate program at the University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley). But before starting school, she joined Sullivan 鈥� who had been keeping in touch with postcards and the occasional (expensive) long distance phone call 鈥� on the tail end of his travels.听
鈥淭ravel has always been important to us,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淚n the beginning, I knew that even though we were very different people, our values have always aligned, and I think travel and adventure is one of those.鈥�听
And those travels gave Sullivan the direction he鈥檇 been searching for.听
鈥淚 wrote my personal statement for medical school while standing up on a bus in northern Greece,鈥� he says. 鈥淎t that point, it was simple because I knew exactly what I wanted to do and why.鈥�听
And he knew听where, too 鈥� California with Bulik.听
Forging a joint path听
In 1983, the dynamic duo started attending graduate programs at different universities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bulik created her own course of studies in the emerging field of eating disorders at UC Berkeley, and Sullivan attended the UCSF School of Medicine, where his interest in psychiatry grew.听
Then in 1986, in the middle of their graduate programs, they got married.听
鈥淚t became blindingly obvious that we were deeply compatible, and marriage was the clear next step,鈥� Sullivan says.听
The couple finished their graduate programs in 1988, and launched careers that would take them across the country and world, all while growing a family.
By 2003, Bulik and Sullivan had settled in Richmond, Virginia. So, when Bulik received a call from the 大象传媒 to apply for the first endowed professorship in eating disorders in the U.S., she turned it down.听
鈥淭hey were persistent,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淭hey had me visit campus at the end of March when the skies were blue and everything was in bloom, and the meetings with potential colleagues and collaborators were energizing.鈥�听
As it turned out, the newly formed Department of Genetics was looking for someone with Sullivan鈥檚 expertise, so the family moved one more time.听
Making a research home听
Bulik and Sullivan settled in quickly at Carolina and got to work creating care and research programs to support their ambitious goals.听
In 2003, Bulik became the founding director of the听Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders听and has led it ever since. It鈥檚 a world-renowned center that focuses on clinical service, training, and research, which includes genetics-based collaborations with听Sullivan鈥檚 lab.听
鈥淭his program is near and dear to my heart,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淭he genetics findings have established that anorexia nervosa is not only a psychiatric disorder but is also a metabolic disorder. We鈥檝e opened this whole new line of inquiry to investigate the disease and ultimately to improve treatment.鈥�听
Sullivan worked to uncover why some people are more likely to suffer mental illness than others. In 2007, he co-founded the听, a group of more than 800 scientists from 36 countries. Collectively, the consortium has published around 600 papers and increased understanding of the basis of psychiatric disorders.听
鈥淓verything we learn, we make the information available publicly because we鈥檙e all about wanting to make things move as quickly as possible to understand the genomic and scientific implications of conditions like depression and schizophrenia,鈥� Sullivan says.听听
During their time at 大象传媒-Chapel Hill, Sullivan and Bulik also applied for separate grants to conduct research at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. They were both awarded their grants 鈥� but found out at different times.听
鈥淢y notification came before hers, which made for an awkward three weeks,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淵et, it is another example of the great fortune we鈥檝e had over the years.鈥�听
From 2014-2020, the pair spent half their time in Sweden leading research teams. With their kids out of the nest, it was another adventure in science and life. And then the pandemic hit.听
A legacy of collaboration听
Bulik and Sullivan continued to lead their teams at Karolinska from afar, while redirecting some of their focus at home.听
鈥淚 was able to get back into clinical practice with the听Taking Care of Our Own Program, which provides psychiatric and psychological care for 大象传媒 medical professionals,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淚t was amazing to have the privilege of assisting these talented and dedicated individuals.鈥�听
On the heels of the pandemic in 2022, mental health was at the forefront of health care conversations. The听Suicide Prevention Institute听was established with Sullivan as its director. He pulled together a team of 40 faculty at the School of Medicine, including Bulik, to reduce suicide in patients seen across the 大象传媒 Health system and beyond.听听
鈥淭here鈥檚 an enormous amount of work to be done,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just getting started with the Suicide Prevention Institute, we still have teams in Sweden, and there鈥檚 still so much to learn about eating and other psychiatric disorders.鈥�听
Bulik and Sullivan are still working diligently to answer some of the biggest questions remaining in psychiatry and psychology. And now they also have a passion for training the next generation of researchers and clinicians to push forward the advancements they have made over decades together.听
听鈥淚鈥檝e had such great fortune to have met and consistently interact with Dr. Cindy Bulik for 45 years,鈥� Sullivan says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an amazing human being.鈥�听
鈥淲e鈥檝e grown up together as people because we met so young,鈥� Bulik says. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e grown up together as scientists too.鈥�听
Cynthia Bulik is the Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders within the 大象传媒 and founding director of the 大象传媒 Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders. She is also a professor of nutrition in the 大象传媒 Gillings School of Global Public Health and associate director of the 大象传媒 Center for Psychiatric Genomics.听
Patrick Sullivan is the Yeargan Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics within the 大象传媒 and director of the Center for Psychiatric Genomics. He also leads the 大象传媒 Suicide Prevention Institute.听
This article originally appeared on the 大象传媒 Research website .