By Bradley L. Schlaggar, MD, PhD, President and CEO
As a transplant to Baltimore from St. Louis, nearly 7 years ago now, for the opportunity to lead Kennedy Krieger Institute, I am often asked what surprises me most about my new(ish) home. The answer that I frequently share, while I don’t think it’s the one most expect to hear, is the following: I am struck by how many in our community who, while fully aware of Kennedy Krieger’s outstanding reputation, are not fully aware of all that we do on behalf of people living with neurodevelopmental challenges or to earn our international reputation as a truly unique gem—and one that we Marylanders get to have in our own backyard.
If your family or loved ones have needed the exceptional care and attention offered at Kennedy Krieger for patients and students alike, you are quite likely familiar with this renowned organization that has served with distinction in the Baltimore region and beyond since 1937.
Whether you have needed us or not, you are likely unfamiliar with the breathtaking scope of our mission carried out by over 3,000 team members across our dozens of departments and programs at multiple sites throughout Maryland.
More likely, what you may know of us as someone who benefits from our services, or as a member of the general community, will only scratch the surface of all that we do. I suspect that we’ve not told our story as completely or effectively as we could have, recognizing that it’s not easy distilling the work of a unique, world-class clinical, educational, research, training, and advocacy hub into a concise story that hardly does justice to the scope of our work and expertise.
Indeed, it was the incredible breadth and depth of clinical care, education, research, training, and advocacy that brought me to Baltimore in the summer of 2018. I was, and remain, inspired by the Institute’s unique vision for treating and educating children, adolescents and adults with neurological, rehabilitative, affective, behavioral, and/or developmental needs.
My plan is to introduce (or re-introduce if you have interacted with us) Kennedy Krieger to Baltimore, Maryland, and beyond through a series of articles I will share here on LinkedIn and across other social media channels. Because the Institute is so many things to so many people, this series will be called “Kennedy Krieger is….”
In the brief articles that will follow, I will provide information about our inpatient hospital, our outpatient clinical services, our schools (serving publicly funded students from Maryland and DC) and early childhood programs, our mission-driven research and professional training, our engagement with the community and more.
It is important to me and the 3,000+ employees who serve with distinction at Kennedy Krieger that you know what we bring to patients, students and families in Maryland, DC, the mid-Atlantic, all 50 U.S. states, and dozens of countries around the world.
With one in six children in the U.S. living with a nervous system disorder, disease, condition or injury—more than 12 million kids—the work we do through our research, clinical trials, exceptional patient care and unmatched educational programming is critical and life-changing.
Last year we served nearly 30,000 patients seen at Kennedy Krieger for a range of common diagnoses, such as autism and ADHD, to rare diseases like Sturge Weber syndrome and Acute Flaccid Myelitis. For those patients and their families, we provide an outstanding interdisciplinary team ready to surround them with a unique blend of expertise and support. Our specialized schools served just under 500 publicly funded students at five locations throughout Maryland, providing clinically related services, as well. Our scientists led over 700 research studies, leading to crucial discoveries and innovative treatments.
As we launch this series to look more deeply at all the Institute offers, it’s important to remember one of the most vital aspects of our outstanding clinical care, research, and education: Kennedy Krieger is where hope happens.
