Dr. Richardson completed her undergraduate training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, and earned her medical degree from the Harvard University Medical School. She completed her residency at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is board certified in family medicine. She is either teaching or doing research at the University of Michigan Medical School or at the VA Health Services, Center for Clinical Management Research. She studies the effects of physical activity on chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart failure. She also coordinates the class on domestic violence and abuse prevention for the medical students.