Kristen is an Arizona native but left the desert to attend Baylor University in Waco, Texas. While studying in the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core within the Honors College, she majored in Neuroscience with a minor in Biology. She also worked as a personal trainer and campus tour guide during her time in Waco! Although she had wanted to be a pediatrician her entire life, her undergraduate studies segued her professional interests towards pediatric neurology.

Upon graduating college, she did public health work with a local non-profit organization in Trujillo, Peru before eventually returning home to Phoenix for medical school. In her free time, she loves hiking, traveling, gardening, baking, interior design, and oenology. Since coming to Nashville, she and her husband, Ryan, have loved exploring the state parks, trying the many local breweries, and going to concerts in their free time.