Dr. Kevin Foley is a tenured professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, Tennessee. He is the chairman of Semmes-Murphey Clinic, chairman of the board and medical director for the Medical Education & Research Institute, and emeritus director of the spine fellowship at the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Foley received his Doctor of Medicine degree from UCLA in 1979, five years after graduating from high school, and was elected to membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society. He completed a neurosurgery residency at UCLA in 1985.

Following residency, Dr. Foley served in the United States Army Medical Corps as Assistant Chief of Neurosurgery at Brooke Army Medical Center, Chief of Neurosurgery at Tripler Army Medical Center, and Chief of Neurosurgery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he was also the chairman of the neurosurgical residency training program. During his military service, Dr. Foley was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Order of Military Medical Merit, and the Surgeon General's Physician Recognition Award.

In 1992, Dr. Foley left the military and joined Semmes-Murphey Clinic and the Department of Neurosurgery at UTHSC. In addition to a full-time spine surgery practice, he is actively involved in research in minimally invasive spine surgery, image-guided navigation, robotics, spinal biomechanics, clinical outcomes, disc regeneration, and the application of novel bone adhesives to cranial and spinal surgery. He has over 250 peer-reviewed publications to his credit, has lectured at more than 700 scientific meetings and educational workshops, and has been a visiting professor and invited lecturer at numerous universities in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, Dr. Foley has been issued over 180 U.S. patents; in fact, he has many more issued U.S. patents than any neurosurgeon, past or present. His inventions include tubular retractors for minimally invasive spinal surgery, methods and devices for image-guided surgery, minimally invasive spinal fixation using screws with percutaneous extenders, and progenitor cell therapy for disc regeneration. In recognition of his accomplishments, Dr. Foley was presented with the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Cushing Award for Technical Excellence and Innovation in Neurosurgery in 2019 and the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies William Beecher Scoville Award in 2023.