Richard Kennedy, MD, PhD

Richard Kennedy, MD, PhD, is Professor in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care in the Department of Medicine at OUHSC. I have dual training as a doctoral-level biostatistician (with post-doctoral training in statistical genetics) and as a psychiatrist (with fellowship training in psychosomatic medicine). My primary research interest is in the intersection between cognitive disorders and medical illness, particularly applied to the aging process. My fascination with cognition and its disorders began with my neuroanatomy class in the first year of medical school, where I first began to understand brain-behavior relationships. This also led to my first research experience, where my mentor, Dr. Jim Hutchins, instilled in the view of the brain as the “great unknown” and a contagious eagerness to solve its mysteries. This continued into my clinical training in medical school and psychiatry residency and fellowship, where I truly began to appreciate the relationship of the brain with complex behavior through such illnesses as dementia and delirium. After completing my fellowship, I began to work with Dr. Paula Trzepacz, a nationally known expert in delirium, who helped solidify my disparate training experiences into a cohesive interest studying the clinical consequences of cognitive disorders that have continued throughout my career.  My work in this area has encompassed a variety of illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke, as well as healthy aging.  I am part of multiple projects examining applications of electronic health record (EHR) data for identification of delirium and other under-recognized geriatric syndromes, and in Age-Friendly Health Systems initiatives to improve screening and treatment of geriatric syndromes by non-geriatricians.