Biography

Kirsten is an Adult Nurse Practitioner who works at THE Ohio State University as APP Lead for the Comprehensive Weight Management group. She has been working in obesity medicine since October 2011. She cares for patients seeking metabolic/bariatric surgery, those who require follow up after surgery, and those who are seeking medical weight management. She genuinely believes in the chronic nature of obesity as a disease state.

She is passionate about lifestyle change and sees first-hand the significant role that mental health, habits, and coping skills have on patient’s health. She works with adult patients but feels strongly that we need to address the family, educational, and institutional structures that place both adults and children at risk for obesity. Kirsten recently joined the Support Group committee in ASMBS.

Outside of ASMBS, Kirsten is active in the Obesity Medicine Association, where she was chair of the NP/PA committee in the past and she helped to develop and then completed a Certificate of Advanced Education in Obesity Medicine. She is also an APP Board member of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary tract (SSAT). She also worked with her colleagues to petition the Board of Nursing in Ohio to obtain the prescriptive authority for all currently approved weight loss medications in the state (formerly, only available from physicians).