Katie Feldner, PhD, MSN, RN, CNN, is a postdoctoral fellow in the VA Office of Academic Affiliations BRITE IDEAS Health Systems Research Program at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, where she works with Dr. Jorie Butler on Food is Medicine approaches to chronic disease management. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing, where she teaches and chairs projects in the DNP program.

Her research draws on two decades of clinical experience as a nephrology nurse, where she saw outcomes shaped by multilevel determinants that extend well beyond the clinical encounter, including patients choosing between medications and basic needs such as rent and food. She pursued a PhD to investigate those contextual factors directly. Her dissertation, the ENVIRONS Study, funded by the National Kidney Foundation, used a mixed-methods design to examine individual, social, and environmental factors influencing patient activation and self-management behaviors among adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3. These findings position patient activation as a modifiable mechanism for intervention, one rooted in context rather than individual effort alone.

In collaboration with Dr. Butler’s lab, Katie’s research aims to understand how nutrition-related factors and context-based supports influence self-management among Veterans living with CKD. This work is intended to lay the foundation for future interventions that support healthy aging and sustained behavior change, guided by the principle that people living with chronic disease can live long, healthy lives when given the right resources and support.