Norris, Mark L.Power, Krista A.Spettigue, WendyLavallée, NianaGertler, Madeline J.Livingston, Dawson B. H.Rodrigue, Alexane F.Porter, Janessa E.Pope, LoriHarrison, MeganKanbur, NurayGoldfield, Gary S.Isserlin, LeannaRobinson, AmyObeid, Nicole2026-01-272026-01-272025-12-12Journal of Eating Disorders. 2025 Dec 12;14(1):17https://doi.org/10.1186/s40337-025-01490-whttp://hdl.handle.net/10393/51319Abstract Objective To examine markers of feasibility for a pragmatic interdisciplinary multi-axial study of biomarkers in adolescents with eating disorders (EDs). Method The study included the collection of medical and clinical variables, psychometric measures, dietary logs, sensory and sleep assessments, and biological samples (i.e., blood and stool collection) for biomarker analyses. Adolescents between the ages of 11 to 17 diagnosed with a restrictive ED, along with control participants were enrolled between November 2021 to July 2024. Participants with EDs underwent concurrent treatment while enrolled in the study. Time points for low-weight patients included baseline, 4, 12, and 26 weeks, depending on the biological marker. Control subjects and patients over 90% treatment goal weight were assessed once. Feasibility was evaluated using clinical participant recruitment efficiency and uptake, adherence to the study protocol, rates of study completion, and self-reported ratings of acceptability. Results In total, 100 participants with an ED, and 52 controls participated. We observed high rates of clinical participant enrolment, high adherence with most protocol collection procedures, modest dropout for longitudinal clinical participants (17% at 12 weeks), and positive feedback returned on surveys. We observed higher dropout at the 26-week timepoint (33%). Food log and sleep assessments were hindered by several contributing factors, resulting in completion rates of 31–70% and 40–87%. Discussion Overall, results suggest acceptable feasibility for most variables assessed. Protocols requiring participation beyond 12 weeks, and utilizing dietary logs and sleep assessments, should be powered accordingly to account for lower completion rates. Further studies are needed to determine methods to optimize dietary and sleep assessments. This study provides valuable insights that can inform future precision psychiatry ED research strategies.Plain English Summary In this study, we report on the feasibility of collecting biomarker samples in adolescents with eating disorders (ED) to help inform a platform of precision psychiatry research. We included standardized questionnaires, dietary logs, sleep, sensory, and pharmacogenetic assessments, and collected blood and stool samples. Depending on the biomarker and grouping of participants, we collected data at 1, 3 or 4 timepoints. We evaluated feasibility using rates of recruitment, adherence to the protocol, timepoints and study completion, and overall acceptability. We recruited 100 participants with an ED and 52 controls. We observed high rates of clinical enrolment and adherence to most collection procedures, low rates of drop out over the first 12 weeks, and positive feedback returned on surveys. Dietary log completion and sleep assessments were the most challenging research tasks, with the highest rates of non-completion. Our results suggest that most participants followed longitudinally completed testing up to twelve weeks. Protocols requiring participation beyond this timeframe should account for substantial dropout. Further studies are required to investigate the optimal method to track nutritional intake and assess sleep characteristics for research purposes in adolescents with EDs.Journal Article2026-01-27enThe Author(s)