News & Events

If Santa had a theme park, this would be it!

Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Festival of Trees is right around the corner! The 23rd annual holiday event will be held November 23-25 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds Cow Palace in Timonium. Festival of Trees is a winter wonderland, featuring more than 600 spectacular holiday trees, wreaths, and gingerbread houses created by local designers.

Santa Needs Helpers

Plans are quickly coming together for the Institute's 23rd annual Festival of Trees, the largest holiday-themed festival of its kind on the East coast. The 2012 event will be held Thanksgiving weekend, November 23-25, at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, and will once again be the unofficial kickoff to the holiday season. We are currently looking for organizations and individuals who are interested in:

Career Development Awards from NIH Encourage Research

Every year, in an effort to encourage medical research, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants funding to clinicians interested in focusing their careers on research. These awards require them to spend a minimum of 75 percent of their efforts on research activities. In 2002, the NIH granted 3,000 awards, totaling more than $400 million, to researchers across the country. Nearly $1 million was granted to several scientists at Kennedy Krieger and its Atlanta affiliate, Marcus Institute.

Here at the Institute, the work we do is rooted in the belief that all children, regardless of a disability, should have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Our website and magazine are filled with stories of how our physicians, nurses, therapists, and teachers help to unlock the potential of patients and students through innovative and compassionate care, education and research.

Music lovers and families came out to rock ‘n’ roll for a good cause at the sixth annual Bands on the Bay event May 1. The annual fundraiser for the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute featured music by the Doug Segree Band; Orlando Phillips, a Caribbean music steel drum musician, and former lead vocalist of Caribbean music group Mama Jama; the Fitzmaurice Band; and solo artist, Adam Day. The Washington Redskins cheerleaders also made a special appearance.

To raise awareness and critical funds for autism research, Kennedy Krieger Institute held its seventh annual ROAR for Autism on May 1, at Oregon Ridge Park in Cockeysville, Md.

Here at the Kennedy Krieger Institute we mourn the loss of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister of President John F. Kennedy and founder of the Special Olympics. She was an advocate for people with special needs, and her relentless work on their behalf changed the hearts and minds of millions of people around the world.

The 20th annual Kennedy Krieger Institute Festival of Trees will be held November 27 to 29 in the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. This three-day event is an exciting holiday-themed festival held to raise funds for patient care, research, special education, and community programs of the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Dr. Michael V. Johnston, executive vice president and chief medical officer of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, was recently honored with the Bernard Sachs Award for his critical research. This award, presented by the Child Neurology Society, is granted to someone of international status who has done leading research in neuroscience with relevance to the care of children with neurological disorders.