Kirsten Straughan, MS, RDN, LDN, CSSD
Kirsten is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with over 25 years of experience in the nutrition field and is the Director of the Nutrition Science Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
She uses her platform to promote nutrition and food as a foundation to better health and wellness, whether it be for future RDs, future health care practitioners, or the general public.
Kirsten is also the Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for College of Applied Health Sciences
Kirsten has worked with the University of Illinois athletic teams, providing individual and team focused sports nutrition education and counseling to UIC athletes. She is a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, 2022
As Wellness Workx develops, our intention it to provide employees, players and supporters of Sports Teams coaching on diet and nutrition as part of our Wellness and Fundraising Plans. We expect to offer a combination of on-demand videos, telehealth and group classes. Kirsten is designing this program and will oversee the dietitians we partner with to present these sessions. Kirsten is an accomplished endurance athlete and has participated in triathlons, marathons and Ragnar running relay races. She is also a cross fit competitor and has co-authored a book on Family Fitness.
Kirsten is a frequent guest on local Chicago news stations offering nutritional recommendations on a variety of topics.
Her latest appearance was on Channel ABC 7 Chicago, Jan 7th 2026
On January 8th, 2026 the government released updated dietary guidelines for Americans.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the USDA have unveiled a new inverted version of the food pyramid that emphasizes proteins and veggies. Depending on your point of view, some of these new recommendations are somewhat controversial….so WBEZ asked Kirsten to join them for a debate and phone-in discussion.
The segment on dietary guidelines starts about halfway through the “Say More” show which you can scroll through to.
Kirsten served as the chair of the Wellness Council for District 97 in Oak Park, IL from 2010-2018. She was a member of the Executive Committee and Healthy Foods for Families Workgroup for Oak Park’s Pioneering Healthy Communities initiative, Wild about Wellness—a community-based policy change initiative with a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, aimed at preventing childhood obesity .