When asked if she’s ever considered herself to be a rebel, Jenny Kent answered modestly, "Not really. I’ve always been extremely well behaved."
But her uncanny ability to pivot when it came to finding her life’s calling; rebelling against complacency in the name of self-improvement, puts her firmly in that rebel category.
The born-and-bred Brit began college by studying music but soon discovered it was not the career for her. She then made the conscious decision to study mechanical engineering, a career trajectory far different from the one she originally sought.
The shift fueled a passion for working in human biomechanics. It also led to an educational opportunity in the United States, and ultimately, a job as a professor in ÐÔÊӽ紫ý’s Department of Physical Therapy.
At ÐÔÊӽ紫ý, Kent has secured significant federal funding to develop a regimen so those living with limb loss can develop more confidence walking with their prosthetic limb. As she builds the program that has the potential to impact millions of Americans with limb loss, she’s also planning for additional projects that explore movement for all pathologies and age groups (and even sports!).
She’ll complete all of it within the shiny white walls of her new biomechanics lab, housed within the School of Integrated Health Sciences.
Can you explain how you went from music to engineering?
I started doing a music degree because I loved music; but after a while, I felt that my brain was melting. After my first year, I changed my major to mechanical engineering because I really enjoyed the challenge, and I completed a [bachelor] in mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham.
Where did your career take you after that?
I discovered a training scheme with the National Health Service in England that was also linked to a master's in biomedical engineering. As part of my training, I got to do engineering projects in hospitals. One of my favorite placements was in the gait laboratory, using engineering-derived tools to measure movement; motion capture to measure how different parts of the body moved; force plates to see how much load goes through the body; and electromyography to measure muscle activity during walking. I’ve always been really interested in how we walk and keep our balance. It always seemed so precarious.
A lot of these tools are used in research, but this was the clinical side of it. It also allowed me to meet several people with amputation. This was my first real introduction to prosthetics, and I was so fascinated how they learned to walk with an artificial limb.
I finished my training as a clinical scientist at Queen Mary’s Hospital in London and then went on to work for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre, Headley Court, in Surrey.
This was around the time of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, so a large number of the patients had complex traumatic injuries, including many with limb loss. I was given the opportunity to set up a new movement analysis laboratory there, and that’s where my interest in working with people with amputation really sparked.
People with similar injuries can have severely different outcomes. I came from an engineering background, and you start off seeing everything from a mechanical sense, but it’s so much more than that. For example, fear can a big reason why many people struggle learning how to use their prosthesis. I learn something new from each research participant I meet.
What have you learned in your two decades working with the amputee population?
You can give two people the same prosthetic technology and get two completely different outcomes. They might have different motivations for wanting to learn how to walk again, and different ways for how they can regain their mobility. What’s so hard with prosthetics research is that what might work for one person might not work for the other. It’s all so individualized.
Walking is definitely something we take for granted.
You’ve been in the U.S. for more than a decade now. How is it different from living in the U.K.?
I think there is a lot of opportunity here in the U.S. People are more "We can do this!" People in the U.K. can be more cynical. The weather tends to be more gloomy in England, and you never know what to expect from it. But I really do love how green England is.
I still miss British humor and British drama. I liked watching Line of Duty and Happy Valley, and I’m really enjoying The Traitors, but the British version.
I love the massive blue skies out here in Nevada, and I don’t take that for granted. I do a lot of hiking. Back home, the hikes aren’t nearly as high as they are out here. At the moment, my boyfriend and I are trying to climb all 58 of Colorado’s 14ers – the peaks over 14,000 feet. We’ve managed 37 over the last two summers. In contrast, we climbed the highest peak in England last summer. It was about 3,000 feet, and it was pouring rain. I just remember thinking, "Oh thank you, England."
It’s also easier to drive out here because the roads are ginormous. You don’t get the country lanes where there’s only room for one car on the road and people (quite legally) drive at 60.
What do you love most about ÐÔÊӽ紫ý and the School of Integrated Health Sciences?
I really love my department. Everyone wants everyone else to do well. And our school has such a friendly and supportive environment. The ability to have the time to do great things that help the school and the university — I’m just so grateful for.
And I love the fact that ÐÔÊӽ紫ý is not arrogant. We are an R1 that’s pushing to move forward instead of bragging that we are the best. At ÐÔÊӽ紫ý, we are moving forward all the time.
