Body
Dominique Kinnett-Hopkins’ father used to tell her “If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” and she has lived her life prepared to jump on opportunities. Growing up in an ethnically and racially diverse neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side, Kinnett-Hopkins opened a dog-walking service when she was 10 and was babysitting for the neighbors’ kids by 11. By the time she was a teenager, she was working for a North Shore entertainment company that performed at bar mitzvahs and other events. “Oddly enough through that experience, I learned how to advocate for others very early. You want to make sure the client is having the best experience,” she says. In the hours when she wasn’t at school or working, she was playing volleyball or seeking out volunteering opportunities.
When it came time to apply to college, Kinnett-Hopkins was fascinated by business and numbers so she planned to major in economics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. But a calculus class caused her to rethink her chosen field and she decided that psychology was better aligned with her interests. A friend suggested that having some research experience on her resume would help her get into a sports psychology graduate program.
An opportunity arose when one of her professors was looking for volunteers in his lab, which was focused on the benefits of exercise for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the brain and spinal cord, she volunteered.
Kinnett-Hopkins was helping to pay her own way through college and was ready to graduate in three years. Even though she had already been accepted to another sports psychology graduate program, she changed course when that professor offered her a full ride at University of Illinois with him acting as her mentor. Kinnett-Hopkins stayed in Urbana-Champaign until 2017 and when she was 25, she earned a PhD in kinesiology, the study of human movement.
One thing Kinnett-Hopkins noticed during her graduate work was how few members of minoritized groups were enrolled in the university’s medical research studies even though they were sometimes over-represented when it came to the populations affected by chronic conditions like MS and lupus.
Soon after earning her PhD, Kinnett-Hopkins entered a post-doctoral program in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine that focused on health outcomes research and grant-writing skills. Allen Heinemann, PhD, director of the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, became one of her mentors.
“Dominique's passion for new knowledge and inquiry is palpable,” says Heinemann. “She brings a clarity of vision and a deep appreciation of people's lived experience to her research projects, which contributes to her success in grant writing and to the practical implications of her findings for people living with chronic conditions.”
During her fellowship, Kinnett-Hopkins crossed paths with Miriam Rafferty, DPT, PhD, director of implementation science at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Rafferty, who has extensively researched the benefits of exercise and other interventions for individuals with Parkinson’s disease, immediately struck a chord with Kinnett-Hopkins. Their shared interests made the meeting a serendipitous one, sparking new lines of inquiry. Kinnett-Hopkins began to consider how Rafferty’s work with Parkinson’s patients might be adapted for those living with MS or lupus. She was also inspired by Rafferty’s commitment to sustaining her interventions beyond the life of grant funding. “It makes me want to get my boxing gloves on. These beautiful programs live in filing cabinets when the funding ends,” she says. “My goal is to do research that passes the test of time and has an impact beyond the award period.”
After her two-year fellowship ended, Kinnett-Hopkins spent another two years as an assistant research professor in the Northwestern University department of physical medicine and rehabilitation. In 2021, she was hired as a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Kinesiology, the top-ranked doctoral program in the country. There she has collaborated with Rafferty on a low-dose physical therapy program for people with MS. It’s only one of more than a dozen studies Kinnett-Hopkins is leading or working on with other researchers looking at everything from resistance training for women with adverse pregnancy outcomes like pre-eclampsia or emergency C-sections to virtual yoga to help people with lupus manage pain levels. “The evidence is clear that exercise is one of the best nonpharmacological ways to manage symptoms of chronic disease,” she says. “There are minimal to no deleterious effects. Now it’s about translating the research from labs to the real world so people can continue to benefit from it.”
When it comes to the benefits of exercise, Kinnett-Hopkins practices what she preaches. She has participated in a 305-mile race in upstate New York that involved cycling, running and kayaking. After having a baby last year, she is now training for a two-day adventure race in the Florida Everglades that involves kayaking 35 miles, biking 104 miles and running a half marathon. “I try to seek out opportunities just outside my comfort zone, both professionally and personally,” she says. “I guess I just like a challenge.”