Kai Kennedy, PT, DPT

Bio

Dr. Kai Kennedy, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist, educator, and researcher serving as an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She also serves as Assistant Director of Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice for the VCU College of Health Professions.

Kai has extensive experience addressing issues of health equity, having worked with partners to scale up rehabilitative care in underserved communities nationally and internationally. Her research is centered on innovative curricular strategies to prepare clinicians to provide effective and equitable care in community-centered programs.

Kai completed her B.S. in Kinesiological Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park and is an alumna of the VCU Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program where she now serves on faculty. Prior to returning to VCU, Kai worked as an outpatient physical therapist in private practice, rural hospital, and sports medicine settings, and served on faculty at Mary Baldwin University, Duke University, and the University of California, San Francisco.

Kai has also held multiple leadership positions in the physical therapy profession, where she currently serves the American Physical Therapy Association's Academy of Leadership and Innovation as the Director of Advocacy and chairs the Global Health Special Interest Group. She also sits on the board of the Physical Therapy Learning Institute.

She completed the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity program in 2018 and has been faculty with the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health since that time. Kai looks forward to joining the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity faculty in 2026.