Love of exercise helped a St. John’s man realize he could help people
Kelly is the Provincial Director of Research and Innovation for NL Health Services
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When Liam Kelly, 44, was growing up in Mount Pearl, he got a job at the Reid Community Centre. In that role, Kelly introduced residents to the physical activities offered by the facility.
Kelly was an active wrestler and was into physical fitness in high school, but his job at the community centre ignited a new passion.
“I really developed an interest in how to use physical fitness and training to enhance or help people improve their health outcomes,” said Kelly.
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Kelly had limited knowledge at that time, relying mainly on his own experience through exercise, but it was enough to make a difference in people’s lives — and his own.
Switching paths
Once Kelly realized he could improve someone’s quality of life and functionality through exercise, he chose to study kinesiology at Memorial instead of going to university to further his wrestling career.
“Kinesiology was all about human movement, and it was mostly tied to sport,” said Kelly. “So it was an easier transition for me.”
After completing his kinesiology degree, Kelly obtained a Master’s of Science in Exercise Physiology, where he focused on ways to use physical activity to improve physiological responses to exercise — how to stress the body in maximum ways, he explained.
From there, he started work with the School of Human Kinetics and was able to take the knowledge he’d learned to help MUN Seahawk athletes.
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Then he had a realization.
“I realized, if I wanted to get into clinical populations for people with medical conditions, I need to go on into medicine to do that,” said Kelly.
This is how Kelly ended up in his new role, as provincial director of research and innovation for NL Health Services (NLHS), a position he’s held for the past three years.
What his job entails
Kelly leads NLHS’s clinical trials, overseeing 80 to 100 at a time, and its applied health research and innovation program. He also works with pharmaceutical companies to provide patient access to innovative treatments.
NLHS conducts clinical trials to improve the standard of care through innovative treatments, he explained, which can take the form of one of three types of studies: safety and exposure studies, which evaluate the potential harm or risk associated with a substance and how individuals are exposed to potential hazards; comparing the current standard of care with new therapeutics; and controlled group studies, where people receive high levels of care and monitoring to help improve patient outcomes.
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Kelly also does work with The Living Lab within NLHS to test and evaluate new devices, processes, and technologies.
“We want to try to find ways to reduce costs in the health-care system through innovation as well,” said Kelly.
Although what he’s doing may not focus on exercise as much, Kelly said his passion is helping people, so what he’s doing through NLHS is fulfilling.
Outside of his medical and research life, Kelly is a husband to his wife Sarah, and father to his three children, Sophia, Samantha and Leah.
Kelly said that getting married, starting a family and a life in the province he grew up in is one of his “greatest hits” over the past 20 years.
20 questions
Q. What is your full name?
A. Liam Patrick Kelly
Q. Where and when were you born and where do you live today?
A. I was born on March 15, 1981, in St. John’s. Originally, I lived the first four years of my life in Holyrood, then moved to Mount Pearl. Today, I live in St. John’s.
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Q. What is one thing you would like people to know about you?
A. The thing I focus on is building relationships and getting to know people, so I am always open and enjoy speaking and learning from others.
Q. What would people be surprised to learn about you?
A. That I used to participate in wrestling and bodybuilding competitions. I think people who know me today would be surprised because my body composition is a little bit different.
Q. What is the hardest thing you have done?
A. Completing my PhD was definitely difficult, and it was during COVID-19.
Q. Can you describe one experience that changed your life?
A. When I was 11, I was selected, alongside four other kids from NL, to represent Canada at the World Children’s Baseball Fair. It was in Tokyo and travelling across the world without my parents opened my eyes to a whole different world, and the fact you can do things independently.
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Q. What is your greatest indulgence?
A. Chocolate.
Q. What is your favourite book?
A. The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger
Q. What is your favourite movie?
A. “Rocky III.”
Q. What music do you like to listen to?
A. My general preference would be rock, but when I am studying, it’s more classical.
Q. How do you like to relax?
A. Anything outdoors and being active, and spending time with my kids, going to the park.
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Q. Who would play you in a movie about your life?
A. Sylvester Stallone.
Q. What is your greatest fear?
A. I spent a lot of time in university, completing coursework, so not completing something or failing would be my biggest fear.
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Q. What is your greatest joy?
A. My family.
Q. What is your most treasured possession?
A. My PhD degree.
Q. What is the best advice you got from a parent or mentor?
A. A mentor once told me that research isn’t convenient; you have to follow where the question takes you. You don’t want to pinpoint yourself into one way of doing something.
Q. What would you say is your best quality, and what would you say your worst quality is?
A. My best would be listening, my worst would be saying no.
Q. Where is your favourite place in the world?
A. The beach in St. Martin.
Q. What advice would you give to your 12-year-old self?
A. Focus more on your studies.
Q. Which three people would join you for your dream dinner party?
A. It would be my wife, Sarah, and my three kids, even though I do that with them every day.
Note: answers have been edited for length and clarity.
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