Srividya Kidambi, MD, MS

Dr. Srividya Kidambi is a Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW)/Froedtert Hospital. She received her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from Gandhi Medical College in Hyderabad, India, and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She completed her Endocrinology Fellowship and earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where she has been on faculty since 2008.

Dr. Kidambi is a nationally recognized expert in the management of diabetes and obesity. Her clinical and programmatic work focuses on delivering comprehensive, patient-centered care using a multidisciplinary approach to address complex metabolic disease. She has particular expertise in managing obesity-related complications including type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. While she has conducted research on salt-sensitive hypertension and hormonal causes of elevated blood pressure, her current emphasis is on advancing clinical models for obesity and diabetes care.

In addition to her role as Division Chief, Dr. Kidambi serves as the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Medical and Procedural Specialties at Froedtert & MCW, where she helps advance clinical operations across multiple subspecialties. She also leads the TOPS Obesity and Metabolic Research Center and serves as Medical Director of the Comprehensive Weight Loss Program. In her academic capacity, she is actively engaged in faculty development and mentoring, with a strong commitment to building clinical programs within the Department of Medicine.

Care Emphasis

• Diabetic mellitus
• Obesity
• Metabolic Syndrome
• Drug-resistant hypertension
• High blood pressure due to hormonal disorders
• Primary hyperaldosteronism
• Adrenal disorders
• Polycystic ovarian disease

Dr. Kidambi says, "My goal is to make patients comfortable enough to share their story with me. I believe that disease is just one aspect of a patient's life and there are other things in their lives that can impact their disease and its treatment. I have a passion to treat chronic diseases and spend a lot of time trying to understand the things that motivate patients who struggle with diseases which do not have an easy solution. My reward is change in their outlook and improvement in their health."

Leadership Positions

MCW Internal

• Co-Director, MCW Medical Weight Loss and Bariatric Surgery Program
• 2008 - Present Member, fMRI Data Safety Monitoring Board
• 2008 - 2010 Member, Scientific Review Committee of Translational Research Unit
• 2009 - Present Member, Intern Selection Committee, Internal Medicine Residency Program
• 2010 - Present Member, Endocrine Fellowship Selection Committee
• 2011 - Present Judge for MCW Research Day, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
• 2011 - Present Member, Research Mentoring Committee
• 2012 - Present Member, Faculty Career Development Committee, Medical College of Wisconsin

External

• 2021 - Present Reviewer, American Heart Association's Transformational Project Award
• 2021 Grant Reviewer, American Heart Association's Health Equity Research Network on Prevention of Hypertension: Strategically Focused Research Network
• 2021 - Present Member, Clinical Committee, The Obesity Society
• 2021 - Present Member, Oversight Advisory Committee for the AHA Health Equity Research Network (HERN) on the Prevention of Hypertension
• 2022 - Present Reviewer, Leveraging Nutrition and Lifestyle for Diabetes Prevention Across the Life Span RFA, American Diabetes Association
• 2022 - Present Peer Reviewer, Transformational Project Award Clinical and Population Sciences, American Heart Association
• 02/2023 - Present Chair, Clinical Practice Committee, The Obesity Society

The role of body fat distribution in obesity related diseases

Obesity prevalence is increasing and is associated with significant harmful consequences on one's health. Our research is aimed at understanding why some obese adults remain healthy while others develop diseases such as diabetes or heart disease. Previous studies suggest that it may be the way the fat is distributed in our body. For example, some have fat mainly in the stomach area (apple-shaped) while other have fat distributed equally throughout the body but more so in the buttock and thigh areas (pear-shaped). Studies have suggested that those who have fat distributed in a pear-shaped fashion may be protected from negative effects of excess body weight. Fat distributed in the periphery may be a source of cellular factors that protect some subjects from negative effects of obesity.

In collaboration with a number of investigators, Dr. Kidambi and her team is currently studying the role of different fat depots on heart health and diabetes.