Brain Injury Early Assessment and Intervention Clinic

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Organizers of the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT today announced a fundraising campaign to support the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s ongoing research to develop new and innovative treatments for children recovering from brain injuries. The initiative, which provides race fans with an opportunity to make voluntary $1 donations to Kennedy Krieger when purchasing Grand Prix tickets online, will enable the institute to expand its work to identify transformative brain injury rehabilitation techniques.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) appointed Dr. Stacy Suskauer, Director of Brain Injury Rehabilitation Programs at Kennedy Krieger Institute, to a work group developing clinical diagnosis and management guidelines for acute mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) among children and teens.

Most 18-year-old girls love to talk. Maggie Piet is no exception. She just uses modern technology to do so.

As 6-year-old Cameron Mott sings and dances her way around her family's North Carolina living room, it's obvious she has some serious star power. But things weren't always this way. At age three she started having seizures and was diagnosed with cortical dysplasia, an abnormality in the development of the cerebral cortex.

"She was having six to 10 seizures a day," says her dad, Casey. The seizures robbed Cameron's family of their little girl. Every morning she was clear and bright, but then the first seizure would hit. Cameron would lose consciousness and fall to the floor.

Riding a bicycle comes as second nature to most 15-year-old boys. But for Richie Jacob, it was a major milestone. Three months earlier, Richie couldn't walk. He could barely talk. Doctors gave him a 50 percent chance of survival.

For the Frost family, the first miracle happened when their family survived a horrific car crash that could easily have ended in tragedy.

BALTIMORE - Physicians at Kennedy Krieger Institute and neuro-imaging experts at the Institute's F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging have developed a new way to see the white matter pathways, or "cables," that carry messages from one part of the brain to another in children with cerebral palsy. Already, the new technique has led to a better understanding of how disorders of the developing brain lead to cerebral palsy - which holds promise for better diagnosis and more effective treatment.