Al K. is a graduate of the University of Chicago Respiratory Therapy Program and National-Louis University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Allied Health. As a result of his passion for clinical and patient education, Al advanced to become the Respiratory Care Supervisor for Pediatrics and Coordinator of Respiratory Services for Neonatology at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics. In these positions, he was involved in the clinical education of patient care technicians, respiratory therapists and nurses, as well as resident, fellow, and staff physicians in the area of respiratory care. He has been published in The New England Journal of Medicine (N Engl J Med. 2003 Nov. 27; 349 (22):2099-2107) as the Respiratory Therapy Coordinator and Clinical Officer for the NOVA Study and as an author in Critical Care Medicine, (Crit Care Med 2002; 30:2560-2565). In 2002, he founded CTK Clinical Consultants LLC. CTK is dedicated to improving the quality and efficiency of asthma management by building an educational bridge between patients and physicians. CTK’s innovative asthma education program, “Asthma Blues”, utilizes the science of music and learning to communicate the NHLBI guidelines for asthma management.

“Asthma Blues” empowers participants with vital information that builds the structure for asthma management, delivers key concepts that help them to take control of asthma, and equips them with the tools to keep asthma controlled. In November of 2004, CTK received the Excellence in Community Education Award for asthma education from the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago. In February of 2006, CTK reached a milestone of delivering asthma education to more than 2,500 Chicago Public Schools teachers and staff members through the Asthma 101 program sponsored by the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago.

Al is a member of the American College of Chest Physicians, American Association of Respiratory Care, Alabama State Board of Respiratory Therapy, Alabama Asthma Coalition, Illinois Society of Respiratory Care, Chicago Asthma Consortium, and CLOCC (Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children). Through his efforts at CTK Clinical Consultants, Al continues to exercise his passion for improving health and the quality of life through the delivery of effective lung health and nutrition education.