Letter From the Director
As the first signs of spring blossom around us, we at the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (ICSCI) are also feeling a renewed sense of energy and excitement for the opportunities ahead. 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the center, and this is a perfect time to reflect on our recent activities and share our plans for the coming months.
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for helping us bring our message of Hope Through Motion to the thousands of individuals who have come through our doors. And to celebrate, we are offering our ICSCI community the opportunity to take part in a weeklong calendar of fun, educational and engaging activities. Read about our June schedule below!
Additionally, you will read about an exciting new recreational opportunity for our patients, families and staff members when we kick off what we hope will be an annual event—Pickleball for All! Join the craze sweeping the nation when we host this exciting event. We offer more details about this event in this newsletter.
Thank you for your continued support for our program. Whether you are a current or past patient, a family member, a donor or just someone who is passionate about improving the lives of those with a spinal cord injury—THANK YOU for 20 incredible years!
I hope to see many of you at one of our upcoming events.
Cristina Sadowsky, MD
Clinical Director
International Center for Spinal Cord Injury
Maple Lawn Kitchen for Activities of Daily Living
Our Maple Lawn location has a new kitchen to help patients get used to doing some of the more traditional activities that they would do at home. The new kitchen features cabinets, counters and a mobile table—all with adjustable heights.
This kitchen allows occupational therapists to adjust cabinet and counter heights to simulate the home environments of our patients. It also lets them carry out evaluations in the kitchen environment to create customized treatment plans tailored to individual patients’ needs. Finally, this new space allows therapists to work with patients on a variety of tasks, including meal preparation, cooking and clean-up; balance; upper extremity strengthening; and coordination tasks—all to increase independence and quality of life.
Come check it out!
Pickleball for All
For the past lucky 13 years, Team Kennedy Krieger has participated in the Baltimore Running Festival. Our more than 1,400 participants over that time have raised more than $1.3 million. These donations have allowed us to purchase therapy equipment to benefit patients across Kennedy Krieger, as well as provide adaptive recreational and athletic opportunities—including skiing, fishing, bowling, canoeing, handcycling and more—to individuals with physical limitations.
This year, however, we have decided not to participate in the Baltimore Running Festival. Despite our advocacy efforts, we were not able to secure changes we had sought to ensure the safety of our athletes and supporters. While there have been so many benefits to our participation in this yearly event, safety and inclusion must be our top priorities.
By foregoing this year’s festival, we realized we have the opportunity to design an inclusive, community-wide event that will bring adaptive sports to a new audience. How could we pass that up? Please save the date for Pickleball for All, a first-of-its-kind pickleball tournament for all levels of athletes, to be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at Pickleball House, in White Marsh, Maryland.
Never played pickleball before? No worries! There will be a beginners’ clinic as well as games for newcomers, proficient players and adaptive athletes. There will also be mixed doubles, for all levels of athletes, including adaptive athletes. And you can expect the usual Team Kennedy Krieger camaraderie and fun!
Stay tuned for more information about Pickleball for All and other Team Kennedy Krieger events. Thank you for your past support for the Baltimore Running Festival. Whether you raced, donated, volunteered or did all three, your support enabled us to exceed all expectations and build a community of individuals sharing a common sense of connection.!
We hope you will continue to participate and support Team Kennedy Krieger, and we look forward to seeing you at Pickleball for All in September!
Adaptive Sports
The winter didn’t hold us back in recreational activities for the start of 2025!
We hit the slopes as a number of patients and staff members returned to Crested Butte, Colorado, for a weeklong ski adventure at Adapted Sports Center. The trip was filled with joy, determination and new experiences as those who participated embraced the thrill of adaptive skiing.
Closer to home, we enjoyed our annual local ski day at Whitetail Resort in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. Eight adaptive participants joined in, along with many family members and friends. The weather was perfect, and everyone had a blast!
Mark your calendars for the following upcoming events this spring:
- Saturday, May 17: Adapted Sports, Recreation and Community Resource Fair
- Friday–Sunday, June 13–15: Impossible Dream Accessible Boating
Time to Celebrate! It’s Our 20th Anniversary!
Since 2005, the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury has provided new hope for people with spinal cord injuries, disorders and paralysis. To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we are planning a weeklong series of events and education sessions for patients, families and staff members—see the schedule of our celebration activities below. More details will be coming soon, but in the meantime—save these dates!
- Monday, June 9: Trends in Spinal Cord Rehabilitation 2025 Symposium
- Tuesday, June 10: Regeneration Generation Special Edition
- Wednesday, June 11: Therapy Games Competition
- Thursday, June 12: Talent Show
- Friday, June 13: Adaptive Sports and Recreation Showcase
- Saturday, June 14: ICSCI Prom-Themed Gala
To learn more, visit: KennedyKrieger.org/ICSCIanniversary Registration is opening in mid-March!
Anniversary Yearbook
In conjunction with our anniversary celebration, we are encouraging current and former patients, as well as their families, to share their personal stories as part of an ICSCI yearbook. If you would like to participate, please click here to fill out the information you would like included in the yearbook. We will compile these stories and share them during our weeklong anniversary celebration. This is an activity that we have done for several of our other anniversary celebrations, and it is always such a hit with everyone!
Maple Lawn Pool Construction Update
After several delays, the pool at our Maple Lawn location will be ready for aquatic therapy in April 2025. The construction took longer than anticipated—thank you for your patience!
White Marsh Tour Video
Have you been to our newest location—in White Marsh? If you haven’t (or even if you have), check out our video of the space. You will meet some of the staff members and see some of the facility’s state-of-the-art equipment.
Get Ready to ROAR
Lions ROAR, elephants ROAR, tigers ROAR... and you, too, can ROAR for Kids at Kennedy Krieger! Join the ICSCI team on Sunday, May 4, 2025, at ROAR for Kids, a 5K race and low-mileage walk for individuals of all ages at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore!
Proceeds support research and programs to help patients at ICSCI and Kennedy Krieger. To join the ICSCI team, click here.
Publications
Here are a few of the latest publications by ICSCI staff members:
Chen, J., Sachs, C., Mertins, R., & Recio, A. (November 2024). A quality improvement project on reducing unplanned bowel evacuation during aquatic therapy. Journal of Aquatic Physical Therapy 32(3), 27–33. https://journals.lww.com/japt/abstract/2024/09000/a_quality_improvement_project_on_reducing.2.aspx
Edmiston, T., Cabahug, P., Recio, A., & Sadowsky, C. L. (February 2025). Bone health following spinal cord injury: A clinical guide to assessment and management. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America 36(1), 99–110. PMID: 39567041. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39567041/
Farahani, F. V., Ismaila, L. E., Sadowsky, C. L., Sair, H. I., Chen, L. M., Belegu, V., Pekar, J. J., Lindquist, M. A., & Choe, A. S. (November 2024). Brain network alterations in chronic spinal cord injury: Multilayer community detection approach. Neurotrauma Report 5(1), 1048–1059. PMID: 39744611. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39744611/