Kaitlin Pennington, MS, CCC-SLP
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Cancer Rehab Group
Indianapolis, Indiana
Kaitlin Pennington, MS, CCC-SLP is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Rehab Group (CRG) and Restorative Health & Wellness (RHW). CRG is a subspecialty oncology rehabilitation organization, delivering physical therapy, speech-language pathology, pelvic health, lymphedema management, exercise oncology, cognitive rehabilitation, and integrative wellness services through a hybrid virtual and in-person model. She earned her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Purdue University and holds a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Pennington spent more than a decade building and leading an interdisciplinary oncology rehabilitation program spanning five regional cancer centers partnered with MD Anderson Cancer Center, aligned with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and Commission on Cancer (CoC) standards.
As a specialist in head and neck oncology rehabilitation – one of the most functionally complex populations in cancer care – Pennington developed a rare and deep clinical understanding of what patients face from the moment of diagnosis through long-term survivorship. Her work with patients navigating the physical, functional, and emotional consequences of cancer and its treatment has shaped everything she has built: oncology rehabilitation must begin at diagnosis, not after treatment ends, collaboration is critical, and that restoring function is inseparable from restoring hope. Her expertise spans across multiple diagnosis-specific patient pathways, although her clinical skills are within the evaluation and treatment of oncology-related dysphagia, communication disorders, swallowing rehabilitation, airway management, tracheostomy and laryngectomy care, cognitive rehabilitation, as well as the full spectrum of treatment-related side effects across cancer types – including lymphedema, neuropathy, fatigue, pelvic dysfunction, and the physiological effects of hormonal therapy, which are particularly relevant to breast cancer in both women and men.
Cancer Rehab Group was founded on the principle that no single discipline can meet the full scope of what a cancer patient experiences throughout the continuum of care. CRG’s clinical model integrates oncology-certified physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, pelvic health specialists, certified lymphedema therapists, exercise oncology specialists, and works in collaboration with a multitude of other disciplines specializing in oncology – to collectively optimize quality of life and functional outcomes life-long. CRG’s hybrid delivery infrastructure extends access to patients in rural and underserved communities who have historically had no pathway to this level of specialized care. Pennington also serves as co-investigator on federal grant initiatives targeting oncology rehabilitation access gaps.
Pennington serves on the Indianapolis Susan G. Komen Board and the Heroes Foundation Development Committee. She is the co-lead of the CSPN’s Special Interest Group for Head & Neck Cancer. Her involvement with the Male Breast Cancer Global Alliance reflects the foundational values she brings to every partnership: that cancer does not discriminate, and neither should access to expert rehabilitative care. Men diagnosed with breast cancer face significant gaps in awareness, in clinical trial representation, and in access to the specialized rehabilitation support that addresses the physical consequences of surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, systemic treatment and active disease. Pennington is committed to ensuring that men – and every patient regardless of diagnosis or gender – have access to a care team prepared to meet them where they are and restore what cancer has taken.
“Grace as the anchor. Collaboration as the strategy. Standards that elevate care as the compass.”