Dr. Sarah Keyes is a 2012 graduate of the Baylor College of Medicine Physician Assistant Program and an educator, administrator and educational innovator whose work sits at the intersection of lifestyle medicine, student and faculty well-being, and health professions education. At Baylor, she serves as assistant dean of Student Affairs and core faculty within the Physician Assistant Program, where she is known for combining strategic leadership with a deeply learner-centered approach.
Dr. Keyes has developed a national reputation for advancing practical, scalable and interdisciplinary education methods for incorporating lifestyle medicine, an evidence-based approach to healthcare that uses nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management and other healthy behaviors to prevent and treat chronic disease. Specifically, her work focuses on preparing future healthcare professionals to address chronic disease through prevention, behavior change counseling and whole-person care. Through a five-year Health Resources and Services Administration-funded Primary Care Training Project, she helped design and implement a lifestyle medicine curriculum that integrates prevention science, counseling skills and social determinants of health into physician assistant education that is now recognized as a partial academic pathway by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her long-term vision extends beyond a single curriculum and centers on building educational systems that equip healthcare learners to improve patient and community well-being.
A hallmark of Dr. Keyes’ leadership is her ability to bridge innovation with implementation. In addition to earning her Doctor of Education, she has pursued advanced training in lifestyle medicine and was nationally recognized for her contributions to the field through earning Fellow status in the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Her scholarly work has resulted in peer-reviewed publications, national presentations and multiple institutional honors, including Baylor College of Medicine’s NRF Award for Teaching and Evaluation Excellence and the NRF Award for Research Excellence.
Beyond her scholarship, Dr. Keyes has become a visible leader in educational innovation and institutional culture-building. She has played a leadership role in the Education Hackathon in the Huffington Department of Education, Innovation and Technology, helping foster interdisciplinary collaboration and creative problem-solving across Baylor. Colleagues and students alike recognize her for her mentorship, creativity and commitment to creating educational environments that support both excellence and well-being.
Through her leadership, scholarship, and service, Dr. Keyes represents a new generation of health professions educators dedicated to transforming healthcare through innovation, prevention, and human-centered education.
