Movement as Medicine

Kinnett-Hopkins aims to add exercise interventions to MS healthcare BY DREW MOSER

Dominique Kinnett-Hopkins. Courtesy photo.

Dr. Dominique Kinnett-Hopkins, assistant professor of Applied Exercise Science and Movement Science, got into academia because she enjoyed teaching and wanted more representation of Black full-time faculty members in higher education.

While completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, KinnettHopkins volunteered in the Exercise Neuroscience Research Laboratory, which promotes physical activity and exercise in people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). It was a life-changing experience. “Exercise provided an opportunity for research participants to take back some of their power. Participants explained it as their way of fighting against the disease, and I loved it,” she explained.

After that experience, Kinnett-Hopkins decided to continue at UIUC to earn a doctorate in kinesiology. Her primary interest was teaching, but once she started conducting her own research, she discovered communities she wanted to advocate for. During her graduate training, new evidence emerged that African Americans have a 47% increased risk of developing MS1, but less than 1% of MS research published before 2014 focused on minority populations2 . Kinnett-Hopkins knew she wanted her research to focus on the experiences of Black individuals with MS. For her dissertation, Kinnett-Hopkins surveyed Black individuals with MS to identify what their ideal exercise program would look like. She then interviewed them to understand their perspectives on physical activity and exercise, including how they could integrate it into their lives. Finally, she did a feasibility study with a subset of the group, using a home-based exercise program that incorporated their feedback.

During her dissertation research, Kinnett-Hopkins saw how many people seeking treatment struggled to navigate the healthcare system. She took a postdoctoral fellowship at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to further study this issue. While at Northwestern, she also participated in several lupus studies. Lupus, Kinnett-Hopkins said, is another chronic condition that is highly prevalent in minority populations, and shares a similar symptom of fatigue with MS.

At U-M, Kinnett-Hopkins is the director of the Translational Physical Activity Laboratory, where she looks to build upon her previous MS and lupus work. Her first research priority is to integrate the evidencebased behavioral interventions that get people with MS more active into the healthcare system and make them sustainable.

“We see a majority of people with MS are not sufficiently physically active. For the people who are, we see an association with increased quality of life, lower levels of fatigue, anxiety, depression, and perhaps better sleep quality,” she said. “We know that exercise is one way to manage the manifestation of MS. However, there’s currently not a clear pathway in our healthcare system that allows for that promotion.”

Kinnett-Hopkins is conducting a study, funded by the School of Kinesiology’s Marie Hartwig Pilot Research Award, to determine if a proactive physical therapy delivery model developed for Parkinson’s disease can work for MS. The intervention has patients begin physical therapy sessions as soon as they’re diagnosed with the disease instead of waiting until they have an impairment. They will attend physical therapy one to four times over a six-month period. The goal of the study is to pilot a reimbursable, proactive physical therapy delivery care model for MS patients that supports long-term engagement in exercise.

Kinnett-Hopkins’s second research priority is to determine the best delivery and interventions for promoting physical activity in patients with lupus. She currently has a home-based exercise program underway thanks to funding from the Lupus Foundation of America. In the study, 30 people will be randomized to either the intervention or waitlist control group to see if the exercise program will increase their physical activity and reduce symptoms of fatigue.

Kinnett-Hopkins is looking forward to getting back in the classroom after taking the winter 2022 semester

off from teaching. She developed a course on qualitative research methods, which will be offered again during the winter 2023 semester. “Many courses focus on quantitative research, and quantitative research can provide a lot of meaningful information, but it doesn’t always explain why,” she said. “There is something magical about being able to communicate with someone and understand their story. “Exercise provided an opportunity It’s about how to build trust in for research participants to an interview setting and how take back some of their power. Participants explained it as their to ask the right questions. Then, how do you analyze the data and take it from a way of fighting against the disease.” transcript to a research paper —Dominique Kinnett-Hopkins of substance.” Kinnett-Hopkins is also excited to continue building partnerships with faculty in Kinesiology and across campus, and to take advantage of the many opportunities U-M has to offer. “Michigan has a great way of supporting junior faculty through mentorship, seminars, and frequent reviews,” she said. “Since my arrival, I’ve felt extremely supported. It’s a great community and you feel welcomed and a part of it.” n 1. Langer-Gould A, Brara SM, Beaber BE, Zhang JL. Incidence of multiple sclerosis in multiple racial and ethnic groups. Neurology. 2013 May 7;80(19):1734-9. doi: 10.1212/ WNL.0b013e3182918cc2. 2. Khan O, Williams MJ, Amezcua L, Javed A, Larsen KE, Smrtka JM. Multiple sclerosis in US minority populations: Clinical practice insights. Neurol Clin Pract. 2015 Apr;5(2):132-142. doi: 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000112.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update

The School of Kinesiology is dedicated to making our ideals of diversity, equity, and inclusion our reality. We spent this past year assessing our DEI progress, reviewing our DEI efforts (policies, practices, and programs), and revising our DEI strategic plan likewise for DEI 2.0. We have much to be proud of regarding the strides made to improve our climate, our organizational culture, and our compositional and ideological diversity. But, much work remains. We encourage you to embrace our motto of KIN ALL-IN! Get in the game, and join in our efforts. Visit kines.umich.edu/DEI to learn more.