Beth Wagner Liston (born October 26, 1974) is an American doctor and politician who is the member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of t ...

representing the 16th district in Franklin County since 2025. She previously represented the 8th district in the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in ...

from the 8th district. Ohio House District 8 includes

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Worthington, and parts of Northwest Columbus. She was elected to the

in the

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

election for the 16th district.

Early life and education

Liston was born on Long Island, New York and moved to Columbus at the age of 8. Growing up in Worthington, she attended Linworth Alternative High School as well as

Thomas Worthington High School Thomas Worthington High School (TWHS) is a public school in Worthington, Ohio. The school was named Worthington High School until 1991, when sister school, Worthington Kilbourne High School, opened. With approximately 1700 students, TWHS is the ...

and graduated as

Salutatorian Salutatorian is an academic title given in Armenia, the Philippines, Canada, Afghanistan and the United States to the second-highest-ranked graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. ...

in 1992. Liston was awarded the Glenna R Joyce Scholarship which included a full scholarship to study at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

where she graduated magna cum laude in 1996 with a degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

. After graduating from Notre Dame, Liston enrolled in a dual MD/PhD program at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

. Her PhD research was focused on the molecular biology of cancer chemo-prevention. In 2002, Liston graduated cum laude earning both an MD and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

. For her accomplishments in medical studies, she was inducted into

Alpha Omega Alpha Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society () is an honor society in the field of medicine. It has active chapters in 132 Liaison Committee on Medical Education, LCME-accredited medical schools in the United States and Lebanon. It annually elects ove ...

medical honor society. Liston completed her medical residency training at

Yale New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the second-largest hospital in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It is the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Med ...

between 2002 and 2006 and is currently board certified in both

Internal Medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

and

Pediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many o ...

. Beth and her husband Denver Liston live in Dublin with their two children Madeline and Adam. She also is a member of th
Dublin Worthington Rotary
and President Elect of th
Columbus Medical Association.

Medical career

After completing her studies in 2006, Beth Liston joined the faculty at

as an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine. She has since been caring for hospitalized adults and children at both Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and

Nationwide Children's Hospital Nationwide Children's Hospital (formerly Columbus Children's Hospital) is a nationally ranked pediatric acute care teaching hospital located in the Southern Orchards neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. The hospital has 673 pediatric beds and is aff ...

. In 2012, Liston was promoted to associate professor and in 2018 promoted to full professor of clinical medicine based on her research and national reputation for developing curricula in the fields of clinical reasoning and inter-professional collaboration. Liston is one of only a handful of professors in hospital medicine across the nation, and the only of over 100 doctors in her division to achieve this rank.

Political career

Election

Liston was elected in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

on November 6, 2018, winning 57 percent of the vote over 43 percent for Republican candidate Stu Harris, flipping the seat from Republican control to Democratic control. Liston was re-elected in the general election on November 3, 2020, winning 56.8 percent of the vote over 43.2 percent for Republican candidate Mehek Cooke.

Committees

''133rd General Assembly'' Liston served on the following committees in the 133rd GA: Health, Economic and Workforce Development, and Aging and Long Term Care. ''134th General Assembly'' Liston serves on the following committees in the current GA: Health, Behavioral Health and Recovery Supports, Ways and Means, and serves as the Ranking Minority Member on Families, Aging, and Human Services.

Legislation

''133rd General Assembly'' Representative Liston was the Primary Sponsor of 9 bills introduced in the legislature during the 133rd GA
House Bill 61

House Bill 165

House Bill 198House Bill 300

House Bill 315

House Bill 379House Bill 385House Bill 387
an
House Bill 407
Liston was also a cosponsor of over 100 other pieces of legislation. ''134th General Assembly'' Liston is the Primary Sponsor of 3 bills currently introduced in the legislature
House Bill 41House Bill 153
an
House Bill 212
Liston is also a cosponsor of over 40 other pieces of legislation.

Election history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liston, Beth 1974 births Living people 21st-century American women politicians Democratic Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Democratic Party Ohio state senators Ohio State University College of Medicine alumni University of Notre Dame alumni Women state legislators in Ohio 21st-century members of the Ohio General Assembly