About Priya Narasimhan
Priya Narasimhan is a public health writer whose work sits at the intersection of obesity epidemiology, health policy, and the growing access crisis around GLP-1 receptor agonist medications. She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, where her practicum research examined disparities in anti-obesity medication prescribing across racial and socioeconomic lines — a project that shaped the lens through which she has approached every piece of health writing since. Before joining Losing Weight RX, Priya spent years in nonprofit health policy organizations, analyzing insurance coverage patterns, Medicaid formulary decisions, and the structural barriers that determine who actually gets access to drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide.
Priya's path into health writing was not a straight line. She began her career as a research analyst at a state health department, where she worked on chronic disease surveillance and contributed to obesity prevalence reports that informed legislative policy briefs. She later moved to a national public health nonprofit, where she co-authored policy recommendations on anti-obesity medication coverage and presented findings at conferences hosted by the American Public Health Association and The Obesity Society. It was during this period that she began writing for general audiences — translating dense epidemiological data into accessible policy explainers for advocacy organizations and patient coalitions. She discovered that the people most affected by obesity policy were the least likely to encounter clear, honest information about it.
At Losing Weight RX, Priya brings a systems-level perspective that complements the site's clinical and pharmacological coverage. She writes about who can access GLP-1 medications, who can't, and why — covering insurance denials, prior authorization barriers, manufacturer patient assistance programs, and the socioeconomic realities that shape treatment outcomes. Her articles are dense with data but written for real people navigating a confusing system. She is a member of the American Public Health Association and the Society for Epidemiologic Research, and she believes that health equity is not a sidebar — it is the story.
