Putting Her Passion to Work 

November 20, 2025  

With nearly 20 years of experience in exercise and arthritis research, Monica Love is currently part of the research team for The Osteoarthritis Prevention Study (TOPS). As an interventionist, she ensures that activities promoting weight loss and exercise are taking place, so the results among study participants can be tracked. While weight loss and exercise have been found to be effective treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) in weight-bearing joints, like knees, TOPS, funded in part by the Arthritis Foundation, is examining whether these measures, or interventions, can help prevent OA from developing in the first place. 

Tell us about your background.   

I have a Master of Science in Clinical Exercise Physiology and have worked at Wake Forest University in the Department of Health & Exercise Science as a research interventionist and coordinator for 19 years. I focus on exercise, weight loss and behavioral strategies/components for intervention studies. 

What drew you to the field of science and research, and arthritis research in particular? What do you hope to accomplish professionally?   

I was drawn to the field of clinical research by an internship at the Cooper Institute in Dallas when I was right out of graduate school. My first professional role as an exercise interventionist for the IDEA study (Intensive Diet and Exercise for Arthritis), back in 2006 to 2011. (An interventionist is a clinical researcher who designs and performs studies of a specific treatment, procedure or behavioral to evaluate its effect on health outcomes.) That is when I became drawn into the world of clinical research for decreasing pain and increasing quality of life and function in persons with osteoarthritis through weight loss and exercise intervention. I have been on START (Strength Training for Arthritis Trial) and WE-CAN (Weight-Loss and Exercise for Communities With Arthritis in North Carolina) trials as the interventionist. I was then directing and training staff for WE-CAN in a coordinating-center role, as well. With my experience on IDEA, START and WE-CAN throughout the years, I also assisted in developing the intervention protocol for START and WE-CAN. 

Could you describe what you do with TOPS?  

I have a dual role as interventionist for the Healthy Living Group as well as the Diet + Exercise Group for our Wake Forest TOPS site, as well as coordinating center role of training the interventionists at all sites and keeping the sites consistent in their protocol delivery. I also have helped develop the intervention protocol and participant materials. 

Do you expect TOPS to affect patients either directly or indirectly?  

Ah! This is my passion! I know that this intervention will affect participants directly and also translate into this population, in general, indirectly. We are hoping that this study is novel and ground-breaking in preventing knee OA through weight loss and exercise, as well as maintaining the weight they have lost to live a healthier lifestyle for the future! 

What drives my passion for this field is being one-on-one with participants throughout their journey. I get to see firsthand their successes and get to help personalize their weight loss plan and exercise prescription and tailor it to them. I see them two to three times per week for one to four years for TOPS, and I get to know them as friends and family. It’s amazing to witness their decreased pain, increased function, strength, overall well-being and confidence! People come off medications, get A+ reports from their doctor, and are truly able to transform their lives, all through exercise and weight loss. I also get to see the research come full circle firsthand with participants and then to see the results of the data and the full analysis in a full manuscript publication for the world to see. It’s an incredible journey.  

The Arthritis Foundation has always been special to me because my cousin was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis from a very young age, and she has always had a national team for the annual Jingle Bell Run. She has an incredible story, and I have always hosted her national team in North Carolina (the national team is called Jo’s Jinglers and stems out of Columbus, Ohio) for the Jingle Bell Run for the past 10 years! It’s a wonderful opportunity to support arthritis research and the Arthritis Foundation. 

What are you excited about in OA? What should patients be excited about?   

Preventing knee OA! What a novel thing! If this is successful, Wow! Also, weight maintenance. Weight loss is hard enough, and weight regain is real, based on the data. If we can prevent knee OA and figure out a way for women to be confident in their successful weight loss and management of their weight loss without being on a forever mental cycle of regaining and relosing the weight, that would be amazing!