Creating a Personalized, Family-focused Approach to Brain Injury
A brain injury can change everything about us— who we are, the way we think, how we act—in a matter of seconds.
Dr. Stacy Suskauer and her interdisciplinary team at the Kennedy Krieger Center for Brain Injury Recovery, one of the nation’s leading centers focused on pediatric brain injury rehabilitation, provide unparalleled treatment, support and hope. Her dual leadership as the co-director of the Brain Injury Clinical Research Center continues to impact the research that is changing the field of pediatric brain injury.
Whether from trauma, stroke, loss of oxygen, tumors, infection, toxic exposure or brain surgery, no brain injury is the same. A person with a brain injury may have problems with thinking, attention, memory, impulse control, processing, speech and language, behavior, motor abilities and physical functioning. The extent of the injury also ranges from mild concussion to those in a state of unresponsive wakefulness, sometimes called a persistent vegetative state.
Yet one constant remains for each of Dr. Suskauer’s young patients: the relationship she forms with every family. “They know I’ll always be there to listen to them or help troubleshoot or problem solve,” she explains. “In most cases, I’m not going to ‘fix’ their child, but we always look for ways to improve their situation. I’ll always walk the path with them.”
Bridging the Brain Injury Treatment Gap Through Groundbreaking Research
Dr. Suskauer’s journey began as a middleschool volunteer at a camp for children with developmental disabilities. A simple moment— an older camper’s crush—revealed that these kids were just like any others, needing a bit more support. That insight continues to shape her pioneering work in pediatric brain injury treatment and research. As a leader at the Center for Brain Injury Research and the Brain Injury Clinical Research Center, Dr. Suskauer helps children and young adults recover from brain injuries and return to everyday life. Her innovative tools and studies are transforming care worldwide.
Key Contributions:
- Motor Network Findings: Identified lasting brain connectivity changes in children post-concussion, even after clinical recovery— highlighting risks for re-injury and guiding targeted rehab.
- Time to Follow Commands (TFC): Developed a more accurate prognostic tool for severe TBI, now a global standard in neurorehabilitation.
- Preschool Concussion Data: Introduced first-of-its-kind clinical data on young children’s TBI recovery, reshaping national research and care standards.
Dr. Suskauer’s work continues to close critical gaps in pediatric brain injury care—bringing science, compassion and innovation together.
At Kennedy Krieger, we have an amazing depth and breadth of experience related to treating acquired brain injury.” – Dr. Stacy Suskauer
Leading a Multidisciplinary Approach to Traumatic Brain Injury
Severe TBI is rare, requiring multi-center collaboration to progress rehabilitation research to clinical trials. To address this, Dr. Suskauer founded the Pediatric Brain Injury Consortium (PBIC) in 2019. As co-director, she supports its growth to 20 pediatric rehab programs across the U.S., U.K. and Australia. PBIC collaborates on research, grants and presentations, including at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
“For intervention, we are really at a critical time point for these patients,” she explains. “We are working on clinical trials to study new interventions, including non-invasive brain treatments which, combined with more traditional therapy, really may open up a new window of possibility for our patients.” Embracing New Possibilities for Children with Brain Injuries Kennedy Krieger is the world’s premier healthcare organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and young adults with care and research focused on disorders and injuries of the developing nervous system, from autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability to Batten disease, cerebral palsy, acute flaccid myelitis and more than 200 ultra-rare diseases.
That means we are comfortable in uncharted territory. In fact, it’s where we do our best work. Kennedy Krieger has a long history of undertaking and harnessing groundbreaking scientific research, conducting world-class clinical trials and creating new treatments to change lives.
Funding an endowed chair in Dr. Suskauer’s name is a transformative way to advance pediatric physiatry—a small but vital field improving the lives of children with brain injuries. This support extends her impact across disciplines and generations, fueling groundbreaking research and global collaboration.
As a visionary scientist and mentor, Dr. Suskauer trains future clinician-scientists and shares her innovations widely. Her leadership continues to shape care for young people with concussions and traumatic brain injuries through pioneering interventions, tools and research.