Linda Russo, MAEd

Civitan-Sparks Clinics, The University of Alabama, UCEDD, LEND

Linda received her Bachelor of Arts in Business from Auburn University and was a Respiratory Trainee in the University of Alabama (UAB) Pediatric Pulmonary Center (PPC) Maternal and Child Health Program while completing a Master of Arts in Health Education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She is a recent graduate of the UAB Healthcare Quality & Safety Quality Academy. Linda has also worked for over 17 years in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as a Respiratory Therapist with a Neonatal/Pediatric Specialty. She recently completed the UAB Faculty Scholars Program and attended the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) inaugural cohort of their Leadership Academy.

Linda's primary role is Family Leader at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND), University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) and Pediatric Pulmonary Center (PPC). She is responsible for the coordination and planning of the PPC Patient and Family Advisory Committee, as well as Family Centered Care coordination areas involving collaboration classes with fellow PPC sites. She is involved with the didactic education of trainees from all of the programs involving Family Centered Care. She has had a family trainee in both the LEND and PPC programs for the past four years and has had several self-advocate trainees as well. She is active within the Alabama DD Network and leads the UCEDDs Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) and the LEND Day in the Life Program that pairs a trainee with a family to extend their training beyond the classroom in to lived experience. Linda has served as the AUCD Council on Leadership Advocacy (COLA) secretary for the past several years and was recently elected as Vice-Chair of the Alabama Disabilities Leadership Coalition.

Knowledge from a family perspective is also brought to her role, as she is personally involved with her daughter and the Spinal Muscular Atrophy community. Her major interests lie with promoting quality care and resource information for children and families within the population of Alabama. She is also a team member of the Animal Assisted Therapy provider Hand in Paw (Birmingham, Alabama) with her goldendoodle Buttercup.