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Ray McKenna is Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Stony Brook University. He has been a physical therapist since 1991 and a physical therapy educator since 1998. His initial undergraduate and graduate work focused on math, and he has brought that interest into the physical therapy program where his teaching responsibilities include courses in Research and Statistics and Evidence Based Practice. Ray is also certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist.
Ray’s research interests include understanding and treating functional deficits in childhood survivors of cancer, investigating the effects of a wellness program on childhood survivors of cancer and their families, and assessing the effects of prosthetic devices in individuals with lower extremity amputations.
Ray is the Program Director for Play Fit-Stay Fit! Initially supported by a $150,000 Lance Armstrong Foundation Evolution Grant, Play Fit-Stay Fit! is a comprehensive wellness program for childhood survivors of cancer and their families. It provides physical activity, nutrition education, and psychosocial counseling for the entire family. The program serves as a model program with the goal of creating similar seed programs in other locales. Ray is the co-investigator of a grant entitled Use of vacuum assisted socket technology with transfemoral amputees: A pilot study to investigate the effect of brim height on kinematics, kinetics, and comfort. This research is supported by Otto Bock Healthcare. Ray was a co-investigator and co-director of Move your Feet! - A school-based wellness program that was partially supported by a grant from the School of Health Technology and Management and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The program was a collaborative effort between Stony Brook University Physical Therapy Program and the Three Village School District to promote physical fitness and quality nutrition in 3rd-6th graders.