I had a thoughtful conversation the other day with Natalie Ikeman, PA-C and obesity medicine specialist out of Minnesota. She’s the President of the Minnesota Obesity Society and has been using our MyPhenome test in her practice since March. What struck me wasn’t just how seamlessly she’s brought the test into her workflow; it’s the way she talks about her patients, their stories, and the shift she’s seeing when care gets a little more personal and a lot more precise.
Natalie offers the MyPhenome test to every new patient who walks through her door. Whether someone has never tried medication or they’ve cycled through a few GLP-1s with limited results, she believes knowledge is power and that it’s the job of clinicians and innovators in pharma and research to help patients understand what’s happening in their bodies without shame or blame.
In fact, she explained that she offers the test to everyone upfront, regardless of insurance coverage, to minimize trial and error and ensure patients get the most effective treatment from the start. “What if they’re Hungry Brain? Then GLP-1 coverage doesn’t matter. I want them to know there’s more than one path forward.”
The other group? Non-responders – the people who’ve been on GLP-1s, maybe lost a little weight, maybe dealt with side effects, but didn’t quite get where they hoped to go. For those patients, the test offers a new way to think about their biology and a reason to try again; this time with a more informed approach.
We talked about one patient in particular who had struggled with her weight since childhood and was seriously considering bariatric surgery when she met Natalie. Natalie offered her the test right away. When the results came back (Hungry Brain phenotype) it completely shifted her mindset. For the first time, she understood why she felt full but kept eating. That knowledge unlocked new options: non-GLP-1 medications that target her biology more effectively. She’s already lost 30+pounds and, maybe more importantly, feels hopeful again.
That’s the part that keeps sticking with me. It’s about giving people a sense of control and self-understanding. Natalie’s patients describe the test as “easy” and “consumer friendly.” It arrives at their home and the results help them start seeing obesity not as a personal failure, but as something we can treat with the same evidence-based lens we apply to any other chronic condition.
Natalie’s philosophy opens doors to more intimate, empowering conversations with patients. She reminds them that their weight is not their fault. When they understand what’s really driving their weight gain, they stop apologizing for being on medication. They start asking better questions and believing there’s still a path forward.
If you’re a provider, researcher, or even someone working in obesity drug development, I hope you’ll take a page from Natalie’s book. The test isn’t just data; it’s direction. For many patients, it’s the start of a completely different story.
