Kendi Hensel, DO, PhD, FAAO is a professor and the Vice chair of the Department of Family and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the ONMM residency director for the Lake Granbury Medical Center ONMM residency.   She attended the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed a Combined FM/ONMM residency at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. She returned to her native Texas in 2004 and joined the faculty at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM). In 2006 Dr. Hensel became the first DO to receive a K23 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the NIH-NCCIH, studying the effects of OMM on pregnant women. She received her PhD in OMM Clinical Research and Education in 2009 from UNTHSC-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She served as the 2019-2020 President of the American Academy of Osteopathy, 6 years as a Section Editor of the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, and the 2015-2019 Chair of ECOP. She earned her Fellowship of the American Academy of Osteopathy in 2018. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Osteopathic International Alliance.   She is currently involved in clinical, educational and research activities at TCOM, and in national efforts to improve the evidence base and utilization of OMT in patient care.   Her research interests center around mechanistic and clinical effectiveness studies of OMM.