University of Kansas · PsychologyFazzino Lab
Tera L Fazzino · Lawrence, Kansas
Research Focus
Dr. Tera L. Fazzino's research lab at the University of Kansas focuses on understanding hyper-palatable foods, which are processed foods designed to be particularly tasty and often lead to overeating. The lab investigates whether these foods can be considered addictive by studying their effects on behavior and brain function, similar to how substances like alcohol and nicotine affect us. Their findings aim to inform public health regulations around these food products that can have negative health consequences.
hyper-palatable foodsaddictionfood regulationbehavioral scienceneurobiology
Research Aims
5AIM 01Assess the abuse liability of hyper-palatable foods
AIM 02Investigate neuroadaptive changes due to excessive consumption of hyper-palatable foods
AIM 03Examine how modifying macronutrients affects the addictive potential of these foods
AIM 04Establish a systematic method for testing the addictive properties of food products
AIM 05Inform public health policies regarding the consumption of hyper-palatable foods
Skills the Lab Values
behavioral self-administrationrandomized controlled trialsdouble-blind methodsnutritional analysisfood consumption studies
Output against the department
Publications79bottom 20% of dept.237th of 296
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations1.3kbottom 10% of dept.266th of 296
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.