Laura E. Keyser, DPT ’08, MPH : Care and Compassion for Women Around the Globe 

A fascination with how the body works began for Laura Keyser when she was studying ballet as a teenager. Keyser also was a strong student, exceling in math and science. 

Her skills and interests joined together in her choice of physical therapy (PT) as a career. In particular, women’s bodies and how they cope with childbirth and postpartum recovery have taken center stage in her work locally and globally. 

Now, she’s receiving UCSF’s Alumni Practitioner Award, which goes to an alum whose work is marked by “boundless clinical empathy, understanding, and caring within health care.” She was nominated for the award by one of her UCSF mentors, Kimberly Topp, PhD, PT, postdoc alum, professor and chair emerita of the UCSF/San Francisco State University (SFSU) Graduate Program in Physical Therapy.

“Laura has a passion for the global health of children and mothers and has dedicated her life to service in communities with few resources,” Topp says. “She is one of the most passionate and altruistic leaders I have known. Laura, like fellow alumni, is making the world a better place for all.” 

Pivoting toward PT 

Keyser, who grew up in Maryland, earned an undergraduate degree in biology, with a minor in psychology, at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. 

Pursuing ballet professionally brought her to San Francisco, but the PT seeds had been planted, and she pivoted toward graduate school. UCSF was her top choice and turned out to be the perfect fit. 

“I was nested inside of PT but had resources and interdisciplinary coursework from the whole medical school,” Keyser says. “It was an intense program, but I loved it right from the beginning. One of my favorite things is sharing ideas, and UCSF was a great place to do that.” 

Always a curious, determined student – she describes herself as a “go-getter who sometimes likes to make things harder for myself” –  Keyser loved the immersive nature of the program. She also found terrific mentors in Topp – “She recognized what I needed as a student,” Keyser says – and Ann Hallum, PhD, founding chair of the SFSU Department of Physical Therapy. 

“I was exposed to so many great minds,” says Keyser, who has also been awarded the SFSU Distinguished Achievement Award for Academic Excellence. 

Finding purpose in international work 

After graduation, Keyser wanted to have a big impact and landed on a big opportunity. 

A fellow physical therapist was heading to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to help build an orthopaedic rehab program. Local physical therapists and nurse practitioners would be trained in basic surgery techniques, and Keyser and her colleague would teach them PT skills. 

A six-month commitment turned into two years in the DRC. 

“It was a phenomenal experience, but the needs were massive,” Keyser says. “I provided PT education, mentorship, and clinical skills training but also learned about global health at the programmatic level, liaising with the United Nations and other international and local aid agencies. I started thinking about the bigger picture.” 

She realized that the breakdown of a health system equaled a rise in poor maternal health, including an increased likelihood of obstetric fistula, an injury more likely to occur after a prolonged and difficult labor without adequate medical attention. She also knew that improving maternal health could improve children’s health. 

Keyser enlisted a colleague, Jessica L. McKinney, DSc, PT, MS, to help her build a program at Heal Africa Hospital in the DRC city of Goma. 

Later, she returned to the DRC to help train practitioners in women’s rehabilitation at Panzi Hospital in Bukavu. It was founded by OB-GYN Denis Mukwege, MD, PhD, who shared the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy against sexual violence. 

“It was an honor to work with him,” Keyser says. “I’m happy to say that the maternal health program we built has grown and is thriving. It’s been great to see local clinicians take it and run with it.” 

Keyser’s overseas work continues; recently, she was in Nigeria and Rwanda, and soon she will go to Kenya. “Much of the work we’ve created for fistula care as PTs is broadly applicable to other women’s health concerns,” she says. “We continue to grow our network so we can help more people.” 

Keyser’s knowledge of French and Swahili has been valuable in providing direct patient care as well as in training providers. She’s also enjoyed occasional tourist experiences in Africa, including seeing silverback gorillas. 

Scaling specialized PT services 

With all they learned, Keyser and McKinney founded Mama LLC to scale their work, including through an open-access training guide for women’s health rehabilitation that’s now available in four languages and has been downloaded in more than 25 countries. 

They also helped create a pelvic-floor rehabilitation device for women in the US that was acquired by Axena Health Inc. Keyser now serves as the company’s director of clinical strategy and global health. 

Along the way, Keyser also earned a Master of Public Health degree and a certificate in maternal and child health from Johns Hopkins University, and for several years ran her private PT practice at Metta Integrative Wellness Center. 

For all of her impact around the world, Keyser gives a lot of credit to UCSF. 

“I still have a strong connection to UCSF and currently serve as a volunteer clinical professor for the PT program,” she says. “I can’t thank Kim Topp enough for her support. I’m so grateful, honored, and privileged to receive this award.”