Ann Blair Kennedy
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville - Faculty
University of South Carolina Patient Engagement Studio - Director
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Ann Blair Kennedy joined the newly developed Patient Engagement Studio (PES) at the Greenville Health System (now Prisma Health) in 2016. In 2018, she became the director of PES, whose mission is to provide a structured opportunity for collaboration between patients, researchers, and clinicians. In 2020 PES moved to the University of South Carolina, where the organization reviews projects for researchers across the academic health sciences center, including patient-centered outcomes research projects. The studio has received two Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards, the latest of which has led to the development of a virtual patient engagement studio with patients from three states.
She holds a bachelor and master of arts in theater and has been a licensed massage therapist for over 21 years. She holds a doctor of public health in health promotion, education and behavior.
Involvement with PCORI
Engagement Awards: VIrtual Patient Engagement (VIP) Studio: Using Technology to Engage Hard-to-Reach Patients - Project Co-Lead
Pipeline to Proposal: Engaging Patients in Diabetes-Focused Research to Improve Access, Self-Management, and Service Delivery - Project Co-Lead
Ambassador Interests
- Data Analysis
- Prioritizing and/or refining the research topic or agenda
- Prioritizing and/or refining research questions
- Data Collection
- Participant Recruitment/Retention
- Implementation
- Dissemination
- Determining the research outcomes that will be measured
- Determining the intervention(s) provided to research subjects
- Designing research study methods
- Translation