Ryan Kennedy, Clinical Research Coordinator
Meet Ryan Kennedy, Neurology's newest Clinical Research Coordinator.
Ryan joined our department on June 24, through the Department of Medicine’s Pipeline for underRepresented Students in Medicine (PRISM) program sponsored by Dr. David McManus and the Department of Medicine at UMass Chan.
As a research coordinator, Ryan supports patients through the clinical trials enrollment process, by coordinating patient study visits, processing biological specimens, analyzing data, and maintaining study documents and patient records.
Ryan’s family is from Guánica, Puerto Rico. Witnessing his family’s difficulties accessing healthcare while caring for sick, elderly relatives, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, sparked his interest to pursue a career in the medical field focusing on health disparities and clinical research. Currently, he has completed over 1,100 hours of biomedical research through his work at Harvard Medical School, MDI Biological Laboratory and UMass Chan.
Ryan has participated in the UMass Chan Summer Undergraduate Research Program and the Summer Enrichment Program for the last few summers, while also serving as a Patient Acquisition volunteer for UMass Memorial Health and volunteering as a medical Spanish interpreter with St. Peter’s Free Health Program in Worcester.
Ryan recently graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in May 2024 with a BA in Biology. He desires to matriculate into medical school and eventually pursue a residency in General Surgery. Ryan shares, “One of my hopes in becoming a surgeon is to be able to work with humanitarian programs like Doctors without Borders”.
Since joining our neurology team, he has gained valuable experience working with large teams, and interfacing with patients, and is learning proper data management and documentation. He looks forward to patient visit days and feels his position is rewarding when patients share, that they are responding positively to a trial. He is excited to continue his professional growth with the amazing people in our Neurology Department and enjoys meeting others and learning about their work.
Outside of the clinic, Ryan looks forward to visiting his relatives in Guánica every couple of years. He enjoys playing the piano, which he has been doing since he was 11 years old. His favorite piece to play is Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 No. 3. Ryan also likes to create images of flowers and wildlife through his hobby of watercolor painting which he finds fun and relaxing.