Congratulations to Michele Kong, Kulture City

Congratulations to Michele Kong, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care and Co-Founder of Kulture City. Kulture City was recently recognized for the training it provides for first responders. On November 7, 2024, the first responders were called to a car accident in Limestone County. One of the accident victims began panicking and the first responder having received training from Kulture City recognized the characteristics of an invisible disability in the individual. The awareness training assisted the first responder in identifying the issue and aiding the car accident victims.

Kulture City is a non-profit organization recognized throughout the nation for utilizing its resources to revolutionize and effect change in the community for individuals with sensory needs or those with invisible disabilities. In August of 2021, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) partnered with Kulture City to become the first statewide law enforcement agency in the nation to be certified in sensory inclusive training. Upon completion of the training, ALEA personnel received a Kulture City bag equipped with sensory aids such as fidget items, communication cards, and noise reducing headphones for their patrol vehicles.

Pediatric Pandemic Network Learning Collaborative 2025

Mark Baker, M.D., professor in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Heather Austin, Ph.D, professor in the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Lonnie Pressley have been accepted into the Pediatric Pandemic Network Learning Collaborative 2025. This program to improve trauma-informed pediatric mental health triage to care for everyday traumatic events such as traumatic injuries and disasters including active shooter/terrorism incidents and natural disasters (wildfires, floods, tornadoes).

Congratulations to Jasmine Kennedy, Clinical Research Coordinator II

Ms. Jasmine Kennedy, Clinical Research Coordinator II, established a strategic partnership with Ray Morris, FEMA Disability Integration Advisor and Founder of Dads 4kids. The PPN will be able to utilize the Emergency and Disaster Guidebook, specifically developed for individuals and families with functional needs and will use the information from the book to build specialized disaster preparedness kits for special needs children.