| Winter 2025 |
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AACPDM President’s Message
 Dear Colleagues,
2025 is off to a productive start at AACPDM! I am excited to announce new programs and opportunities actively unfolding.
- The AACPDM Emerging Leaders Program aims to provide early career members with opportunities to develop leadership skills within the AACPDM. The inaugural “Emerging Leaders” cohort has been identified and is starting to meet monthly.
- The 2025 Annual Meeting Planning Team (Drs. Theresa Sukal Moulton, Paige Church, and David Frumberg) and the 2025 Scientific Program Committee are hard at work reviewing and shaping the scientific content for our next Annual Meeting. They will undoubtedly do an excellent job bringing their vision to fruition. They are also excited to work with many of the Emerging Leaders who helped in the abstract scoring process.
- The AACPDM Membership Committee is working on future Member-Only webinars.
We thank you, our members, for your supportive donations in 2024 which allowed AACPDM to meet the generous $50,000 match challenge that was provided by the Fund to Honor Adrienne and Jerome Kay! Make a donation today.
We are grateful for the highest member renewal rate we've seen in five years! Thank you for your commitment to the AACPDM.
This is a reminder that membership renewal happens from January 1 – December 31 each year. If you have not renewed your membership, we encourage you to renew through the Member Portal. Renewing your membership and getting involved in a Committee or Council is a wonderful way to build a network of people who can play an important role throughout your career. I have personally experienced this tremendous benefit and know that I am not unique. The AACPDM affords all of us many opportunities to connect nationally and internationally with others who share common interests related to people with cerebral palsy and other childhood-onset disability and their families.
I look forward to opportunities to connect with you throughout 2025 and to seeing you in New Orleans in October!
Laurie Glader, MD
AACPDM President (2024-25)
AACPDM First Vice President's Message
Thank you to all the members who submitted over 600 abstracts that our Scientific Review Committee is currently reading and scoring. We’re excited to learn more about your research and passions, which you’re eager to share with our vibrant and engaged community. My team appreciates the Committee's work; selecting the best submissions for presentation at the Annual Meeting will be a challenging task.
Together, we’ll gather in New Orleans—a city that has weathered challenges, from a devastating terrorist attack to a bayou blizzard, only to bounce back and host a Super Bowl celebration just weeks later. "Celebrating Resilience" feels more relevant than ever, drawing inspiration from our host city’s remarkable strength and the uncertainty many of us are navigating in our work and lives in recent weeks. We recognize the impact that natural disasters, political directives, and personal struggles have had on our members, and we thank you for continuing to include AACPDM in your professional activities. It’s also a powerful reminder of the resilience we see in our patients and colleagues every day.
As we move toward the event, our team is excited to embrace and celebrate the big milestones and the more minor, quieter successes. We will learn from one another, share stories, experience music, and build personal connections that make the AACPDM a unique organization. I anticipate the Annual Meeting to be a highlight of my year, and I hope it will be one for you, too. While challenges undoubtedly lie ahead, we can look forward to the opportunity to come together and celebrate the journey. Please plan to join the celebration from October 15-18, 2025.
Theresa Sukal-Moulton, PT, DPT, PhD
AACPDM First Vice President (2024-25)
Past President’s Reflection
Leading with Compassion and Dedication: A Reflection on Women Leaders of the AACPDM
The AACPDM has an outstanding history that embodies academic camaraderie, friendship, mentorship, and successful interdisciplinary educational collaboration between men and women. In 1947, Winthrop Phelps became the first elected president of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy (AACP), later to become the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM).
Between 1947 and 1962, two exceptional women, Dr. Margaret H. Jones Kanaar and Dr. Jessie Wright were elected as presidents of the AACPDM. Their leadership and contributions in the field of childhood-onset disability paved the way for future generations of women in leadership roles in the Academy. As we celebrate National Women's History Month and Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, now is a perfect time to reflect on their legacy and impact.
Dr. Margaret Jones Kanaar was a remarkable woman who graduated from Cornell University in 1933, at a time when very few women were able to pursue higher education. She held academic positions at both University of Southern California (USC) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and was a pioneer in treating cerebral palsy (CP).
Dr. Jones was a compassionate and enthusiastic pediatrician who believed in providing personalized care to CP patients of all ages. She established one of the earliest nursery schools dedicated to caring for children with CP and successfully persuaded UCLA to open its own clinic focusing on children with CP. At her urging, the Center developed a program to address the needs of adults with cerebral palsy.
Throughout her long career, Dr. Jones received numerous awards and honors and was an active member of several professional organizations. In 1956, she became the sixth president of the AACPDM, a testament to her exceptional work and dedication to the field of pediatrics and developmental medicine.
The legacy created by Dr. Jones continues, as she created an endowment to the UCLA /Orthopaedic Hospital Center for Cerebral Palsy that will enable it to continue her vision for quality care for persons with cerebral palsy.
Dr. Jessie Wright was a renowned academic physiatrist who is accredited to inventing the rocking bed for the respiratory management of children and adults with poliomyelitis. She was also a prominent leader in the field of physiatry, both locally in Pittsburgh, PA where she practiced, and nationally and internationally. Dr. Wright earned her BS and MD degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and later attended Harvard Medical School. Her notable contribution to the Pittsburgh area was the opening of several clinics for children with CP.
Dr. Wright achieved many accolades, including becoming the President of AACPDM in 1962 and receiving the Outstanding Merit Award from United CP. Throughout her career, she consulted with over 20 rehabilitation centers worldwide. Dr. Wright was a strong advocate of interdisciplinary teamwork and promoted collaborations with other disciplines such as psychology, therapeutic recreation, and occupational therapy. Her goal was to promote independence for individuals living with disabilities.
As we look back at the history of AACPDM, it is important to acknowledge the contributions of those who founded the Academy, and we are pleased to celebrate the pioneering women who have set an extraordinary example for all future members and leaders of AACPDM.
The work of Drs. Jones and Wright during their early careers embodies the mission and vision of AACPDM today. They dedicated their careers to advancing the health and well-being of individuals with cerebral palsy, by empowering and supporting multidisciplinary communities that advocate for equitable access to evidence-based and patient-centered care. Drs. Jones and Wright's advocacy efforts, tireless educational activities, and international initiatives highlighted the importance of academic collaboration in improving services worldwide.
This article was prepared with the help from Historian, William L. Oppenheim, MD and Veronica Schiariti, MD, MHSC, PhD.
References:
- Dr Margaret Jones biography (http://uclaccp.org/about-the-ucla-center-for-cerebral-palsy/margaret-jones/)
- Jones M.H. The cerebral palsy child; diagnosis and treatment. The American journal of nursing. 46 (pp 465-468), 1946. 3. Banks HH. Presidential address to the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1972 Feb;14(1):102-7
- Alexander M, Turk MA, Ayyangar R. Dr. Jessie Wright: breaking new ground in pediatric physical medicine and rehabilitation.PM R. 2013 Sep;5(9):739-46.
IAACD Update
Submitted by: Sruthi Thomas, MD, PhD, IAACD Communications Committee Chair
The IAACD Executive Committee hopes to see you all at the EACD-IAACD meeting in Heidelberg, Germany June 24-28. Please see our website for more information: https://eacd-iaacd2025.org. Our Global Professional Education Committee (GPEC) is hard at work creating and updating resources for our members, in particular our Listening and Sharing Sessions. Please checkout this committee's tremendous efforts on our webpage. Our social media reach will be expanding, please be on the lookout for announcements to connect with us beyond the X platform.
AACPDM Committee & Council Updates
Adapted Sports & Recreation
Committee Chair: Cosmo Y. Kwok, MD
The Adaptive Sports & Recreation Committee has helped to streamline Journal Article Digests with the Board to continue to provide article digests in a more standardized fashion, which may also help other Committees have a framework to build from to start article digests of their own. An adaptive sports opportunities toolkit was approved by the Board to allow for recommendations on how community members may seek out adaptive sports opportunities and talk with their children about adaptive sports, next steps to further this project will be to develop informative pages on each specific adaptive sport to help disseminate more sport specific information to the public. The scavenger hunt developed by the "Let's Move" subcommittee was a great success in Quebec City, so the team will look to replicate and adapt this program for the upcoming New Orleans Annual Meeting.
Awards
Committee Chair: Joslyn Gober, DO
The Awards Committee is excited to begin another year and see how amazing our community is! We had our first meeting for the year with both new and returning committee members, where we provided an overview of the committee’s responsibilities. We discussed the various awards and scholarships that we will be responsible for, the anticipated timeline, and some of the upcoming changes that should be expected. We then reviewed last year, looking at the successes and strengths as well as areas of improvements and opportunities. As the Awards Committee, our role will really begin once applications are submitted. We are hoping to continuously develop the process to make it more efficient, fair, and objective.
Education
Committee Chair: Steven M. Lazar, MD, Med
The Education Committee is happy to present the 2025 Spring Symposium virtually on May 7th. The topic will be “A Life of Transitions: From Diagnosis to Adulthood in Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Disabilities”. Be on the lookout for registration and further details from the Academy! Please contact Lazar@bcm.edu and AACPDM Staff at meetings@aacpdm.org with any questions and if you may be interested in hosting an e-course! Our goals for the committee are to continue regular educational offerings and coordinating educational efforts to reach a broad interest of our international membership and beyond including announcing our topics and offerings to be announced at each Annual Meeting!
Complex Care
Committee Chair: Anna O. Jesus, MD
The Complex Care Committee is a broad, multidisciplinary committee that has been active in addressing goals that align with the AACPDM mission. Several members of the Committee came together to submit abstracts for the Annual Meeting in New Orleans, including a morning seminar on the Top Articles in Complex Care and a Pre-Conference on Complex Care QI. The Committee continues to work on a toolkit of Complex Care Guide for PCPs. In collaboration with the Lifespan Care Committee, we are considering a proposal for an eCourse on the transition of mental health care in children and adults with medical complexity.
This Fall we had our first virtual SIG meeting on optimizing complex care in the primary care setting and coding and billing pearls. We continued this discussion with our in-person SIG meeting at the Annual Meeting in Quebec, and we look forward to our next virtual SIG this Spring.
International Affairs
Committee Chair: Nathan S. Rosenberg, MD
The International Affairs Committee has been taking on-going steps to support our members from outside of the AACPDM geographic region. As we look forward to the 79th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, we introduced a voluntary English-language proofreading service for those submitting abstracts. The goal of this is to limit the negative impact of language barriers on dissemination and communication of scientific findings. We have enjoyed the early efforts of this service and are eager to provide this on an ongoing basis in the future. We look forward to reviewing applications for Annual Meeting scholarships and appreciate the Academy's financial support for the selected attendees.
Lifespan
Committee Chair: Tracy Pickar, MSW
The Lifespan Committee continues to work on promoting information relating to the care of adults with childhood onset disabilities. The committee submitted an abstract for a pre-course for the upcoming Annual Meeting. The journal article subcommittee has been actively working to prepare the next article summaries for the Lifespan Journal Digest which will be posted to the publication section of the AACPDM website. We encourage all members to read the Digest.
Membership
Committee Chair: Wendy Y. Pierce, MD
AACPDM Membership Renewal is open and the Membership Committee encourages all members who have not yet renewed their membership to please visit the Members-Only page on the AACPDM website to do so. More information about the Membership types and benefits can be found here: https://www.aacpdm.org/membership
Research
Committee Chair: Stacey Chapman Dusing, PhD, PT, PCS, FAPTA
The Research Committee is thrilled to share the return of a grant specific to junior investigators and clinicians. This Mentored-Research Grant is designed to encourage a junior faculty member or emerging clinician scientist to co-design a project with a mentor. This Mentor-mentee relationship can help advance the science and career of those who are newer to research. With several of our past funders in the renewal process, c-progress and c-star, we will have fewer grants to offer this year. We look forward to reviewing many exciting proposals.
Care Pathways Council
Council Chair: Jilda N. Vargus-Adams, MD, MSc
The Care Pathways Council has revised the guidance documentation for developing new Care Pathways and this information should be posted on the AACPDM website very soon. We are also defining standard processes for review and revision of Pathways. The Council is pleased to share that multiple Pathways are in various stages of revision and we look forward to updates (these include central hypotonia, osteoporosis, sialorrhea, and hip surveillance). Going forward, all Care Pathways will be developed from systematic reviews and utilize standard methodology including the use of GRADE. Any Academy members with interest in developing a Care Pathway are encouraged to pursue GRADE training and to reach out to the Council to discuss their ideas.
Community Council
Council Chair: Jennifer Lyman
The Community Council is looking forward to 2025 with more representation of our members on the various AACPDM Committees. Our goal is to integrate Community Council members into each Committee to lend perspective and insight of those with lived experience to the membership professional educational and training. This year we are excited to have a Council member serving on the Scientific Review Committee for the 2025 Annual Meeting and the full Council providing input for the inclusion of select education sessions. We are eager to “match” more Community Council members to Committees and we are looking forward to more collaborations that serve to educate the membership about what is important to the community the AACPDM serves.
More information about AACPDM Committees and Councils can be found on the AACPDM website.
Membership Renewal is Open!
Renew your membership today to continue to receive these amazing benefits while saving money! Member benefits include:
Visit the Membership page on the AACPDM website to view a full list of member benefits and to renew your membership today!
AACPDM Now Accepting 2025 Travel Scholarship Applications!
Three types of scholarships are traditionally offered for each year's meeting: International Travel Scholarships, Student Travel Scholarships, and OrthoPediatrics® Travel Scholarships.
The deadline to submit 2025 Annual Meeting scholarship applications is Tuesday, April 1, 2025, 11:59 PM CT.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Updates
AACPDM Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are communities within the Academy, created around a shared interest in a particular area of focus, knowledge, learning, technology, or other characteristics of AACPDM membership. SIG meetings are held virtually 1-2 times per year as well as in-person at the Annual Meeting.
SIGs offer additional benefits for members, such as access to subject-specific information and resources, educational opportunities, networking, and volunteer leadership opportunities. They serve as an outlet to become more involved within the Academy, and help members carry out the Mission and Vision of the Academy.
Adapted Sports & Recreation - sign up here
The Adapted Sport & Recreation Special Interest Group (AS&R SIG) had a productive session at the 2024 AACPDM Annual Meeting, focusing on goal setting in the areas of community engagement, research collaboration, and membership growth in alignment with the AAPCDM Strategic Plan. This upcoming year we will focus on building partnership with international adapted sport organizations to expand our outreach. We will also work to increase SIG membership diversity by engaging kinesiology researchers, adapted physical activity professionals, and adapted sport organizations. We encourage all members to get involved and help advance adapted sport and recreation within AACPDM.
Adults and Aging - sign up here
The next meeting for the Adult and Aging SIG is being planned for late spring/summer. The SIG is currently recruiting members to join the planning committee. If you’re interested in joining the SIG, please email: AdultAgingSIG@aacpdm.org.
Complex Care - sign up here
Technology – sign up here
If you are interested in joining this group of forward-thinking rehabilitation technology enthusiasts, please sign up. We welcome everyone from all specialties (MD, PT, OT, Eng and more), including those with lived experience, to join for educational opportunities, project planning, and setting the goals of this new group.
Visit the AACPDM SIGs page to learn more about the work of the SIGs and to sign up today!
Mac Keith Press Highlights
Gillette Children's Healthcare Series
New books on cerebral palsy have been published by Gillette Children's Healthcare Press and Mac Keith Press here!
The books are now available for purchase in paperback (£45) and eBook (£10):
Spastic Hemiplegia–Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
This guide delves into this subtype of cerebral palsy, offering evidence-based treatments and heartfelt family stories. From childhood to adulthood, it provides invaluable insights for optimising care. The writing was led by Dr. Marcie Ward at Gillette Children’s, a global leader in brain, bone, and movement conditions.
Spastic Diplegia–Bilateral Cerebral Palsy, 2nd Edition
This updated resource addresses the unique challenges of spastic diplegia, where the lower limbs are more affected. Covering best practices and family stories, it’s an essential tool for families and professionals alike. The writing was led by Lily Collison, a parent of a son with spastic diplegia.
Spastic Quadriplegia–Bilateral Cerebral Palsy
This comprehensive guide covers motor and non-motor aspects of spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy affecting all four limbs and the trunk. With practical advice and family experiences, it’s a must-read for families, caregivers, and professionals. The writing was led by Dr. Marcie Ward of Gillette Children’s.
Featured Podcast
Cerebral Palsy Characteristics in Term-Born Children w/w/o Perinatal Risk Factors
In this podcast, Mary Dunbar discusses her paper ‘Cerebral palsy characteristics in term-born children with and without detectable perinatal risk factors: A cross-sectional study’.
Read the Paper
Letter from the Editor
As a member of the AACPDM, you can access a range of benefits, including various awards, grants, and scholarships that honor the exceptional members of the Academy and acknowledge professionals who have made significant contributions to developmental medicine. With a special focus on supporting Junior and early career members, the AACPDM provides several opportunities for growth, leadership, and educational resources. The new Emerging Leaders Program connects early career members with senior colleagues, while the Advisor Support Program assists members in expanding their professional networks. Additionally, serving in a Junior Leadership role on an AACPDM Committee enhances their involvement in our growing Academy. Be sure to check your email for important announcements and opportunities, including details about the upcoming 79th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA coming soon.
Julieanne P. Sees, DO, MBA
AACPDM Newsletter Editor
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