BALTIMORE, October 23, 2025 — Kennedy Krieger Institute has been awarded a highly competitive five-year, $6.25 million P50 Center Grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to create the Precision Rehabilitation Across the Lifespan Center.
This initiative will transform how rehabilitation is delivered by tailoring care to each patient’s unique needs and goals. The center will replace standard rehabilitation models with a personalized, data-driven approach that improves outcomes for children, adolescents, and adults.
This project brings together five principal investigators: Ryan Roemmich, PhD, Stacy Suskauer, MD, and Amy Bastian, PhD of Kennedy Krieger, along with Preeti Raghavan, MD and Stephen Wegener, PhD of Johns Hopkins Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
“This award reflects the confidence NIH has in Kennedy Krieger to lead the next era of rehabilitation research,” said Dr. Roemmich, “Our goal is to transform rehabilitation from a one-size-fits-all approach into precision care that adapts to each person’s unique circumstances.”
The Precise Center’s work will center on four key pillars:
- Discovery: Engaging patients, families, and clinicians to design meaningful, patient-centered assessments.
- Implementation: Training clinicians to use advanced tools for measuring and tracking function.
- Integration: Merging clinical data, artificial intelligence, and remote monitoring into tools that guide care decisions.
- Research Projects: Applying this model to real-world conditions, including cerebral palsy, concussion, and stroke.
P50 Center Grants are among the NIH’s most prestigious and competitive awards, with only a small number awarded each year. In rehabilitation medicine, they are especially rare, placing Kennedy Krieger among a select group of institutions leading the field.
“The Precise Center will enhance how we approach rehabilitation,” said Dr. Suskauer, MD, co-principal investigator and vice president of rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger, “Patients and families will not just participate in care, they will help shape it. Precision rehabilitation puts the individual at the heart of every decision.”
The grant builds on the longstanding collaboration between Kennedy Krieger and Johns Hopkins, strengthening research partnerships, supporting pilot projects, and creating a national learning community focused on precision rehabilitation.
The five-year award, totaling $6,255,641, will fund the center through August 31, 2030.
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About Kennedy Krieger Institute
Kennedy Krieger Institute, an internationally known, non-profit organization located in the greater Baltimore/Washington, D.C. region, transforms the lives of nearly 30,000 individuals a year through inpatient and outpatient medical, behavioral health and wellness therapies, home and community services, school-based programs, training and education for professionals and advocacy. Kennedy Krieger provides a wide range of services for children, adolescents and adults with diseases, disorders or injuries that impact the nervous system, ranging from mild to severe. The Institute is home to a team of investigators who contribute to the understanding of how disorders develop, while at the same time pioneer new interventions and methods of early diagnosis, prevention and treatment. Visit www.KennedyKrieger.org/ for more information about Kennedy Krieger.
