Kristen Beavers receives prestigious National Institutes of Health grant

With a passion for advancing healthy aging, Professor Kristen Beavers recently received a five-year National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant totaling more than $800,000 to enhance research and educational capacity in emerging areas related to aging, obesity, and body composition at Wake Forest University. This award builds on a sustained program of NIH-supported research, bringing her total NIH funding to more than $12 million to investigate strategies that promote safe and healthy weight loss in older adults.

The grant, titled “Effect of exercise modality during weight loss on bone health in older adults,” will expand educational opportunities and strengthen collaboration between the Reynolda and the School of Medicine campuses. The grant, a K07 Academic Leadership Award, represents a shared investment in the future of aging and obesity research.

“To even be competitive for this grant required substantial support from Wake Forest, and receiving funding from the National Institute on Aging reinforces that our institution, the NIH, and I all believe this is an area worth investing in,” said Beavers.

Beavers holds dual appointments as a research professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and as a professor of internal medicine in the Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She also serves as associate director of the Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention. 

Healthcare is rapidly changing with new advancements, including GLP-1 medications and artificial intelligence. “Wake Forest has been a leader in aging and obesity research for decades, and this award helps ensure we’re equally well positioned to answer the next generation of questions,” Beavers added. 

Beavers’ latest grant award aligns with the launch of the Advancements in Obesity and Body Composition (ACTION) in Aging Research Program, which strengthens the research infrastructure, mentorship pipelines, and training opportunities to keep Wake Forest at the forefront of discovery. ACTION extends beyond a research initiative. It aims to build collaborations and develop the next generation of scientists and clinicians interested in aging research. 

In addition to receiving the NIH grant, Beavers was also recently named a 2026 Gerontological Society of America Fellow and a Fellow of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. 

“Together, those honors reflect the interdisciplinary nature of my work. My research sits at the intersection of aging, obesity, nutrition, body composition, and musculoskeletal health, and that’s exactly where I believe some of the most important scientific questions lie,” said Beavers.

Beavers received her PhD from Baylor University in Exercise, Nutrition, and Preventive Health, her Master of Public Health from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Nutrition, and her Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in Human Biology, Health and Society.