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Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture (2014)

Chapter: Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
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Appendix B


Biographical Sketches of Committee Members

Robert Graham, M.D. (Chair), is the national program director of Aligning Forces for Quality, the cornerstone of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s multiyear, $300 million commitment to improve the quality and equality of health care nationwide. Dr. Graham also holds an appointment as a research professor of Health Policy at George Washington University (GWU) School of Public Health and Health Services. GWU serves as the national program office of the Aligning Forces for Quality program. After receiving his medical degree, Dr. Graham began a distinguished career in health policy administration. He served as administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration in the U.S. Public Health Service, held senior positions with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Health Services and Mental Health Administration, and was chief executive officer of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is currently chair of the board of the Alliance for Health Reform and a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). He is also a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as an adjunct professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Graham has served as a member of the IOM Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine and was on the IOM Membership Committee for Section 8 (Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation). Dr. Graham has also chaired the IOM Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health Issues (2010-2011) and the Committee on Contributions for the Behavioral and Social Sciences in Reducing and Preventing Teen Motor Vehicle Crashes (2005-2007). He received his medical degree from the University of Kansas.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H. (Vice Chair), is the Seattle Children’s Guild Endowed Chair in Pediatrics and a professor in pediatrics at the University of Washington. He is also adjunct professor of epidemiology, chief of the Division of General Pediatrics, and vice chair of the Department of Pediatrics in the School of Medicine. He is editor-in-chief of JAMA Pediatrics. Dr. Rivara’s career has been devoted to the study of methods to control injuries. He is founding director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle and served as its director from 1987 until 2000, and he is founding president of the International Society for Child and Adolescent Injury Prevention. He has received numerous honors, including the Charles C. Shepard Science Award from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the American Public Health Association Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section Distinguished Career Award; the American Academy of Pediatrics, Section on Injury and Poison Prevention, Physician Achievement Award; and the University of Washington School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Rivara’s contributions to the field of injury control have spanned 30 years. His interests have included the efficacy and promotion of bicycle helmets, prevention of pedestrian injuries, youth violence, epidemiology of firearm injuries, intimate partner violence, interventions for alcohol abuse in trauma patients, and the effectiveness of trauma systems in the care of pediatric and adult trauma patients. Dr. Rivara was elected a member of the IOM in 2005. He chaired the IOM Committee on Oral Health Access to Services (2010-2011) and was a member of the IOM Committee on Adolescent Health Care Services and Models of Care for Treatment, Prevention, and Healthy Development (2006-2009). He received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and his M.P.H. from the University of Washington.

Kristy B. Arbogast, Ph.D., is the engineering core director for the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a research associate professor of pediatrics and member of the Graduate Group of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, she is also the site director for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She heads multiple projects on motor vehicle injuries in children as well as diverse topics in pediatric biomechanics. She was a co-investigator on the Partners for Child Passenger Safety project, a 10-year national study on child passenger safety funded by State Farm Insurance, which received the CDC Health Impact Award. Dr. Arbogast’s current research efforts include the biomechanics of pediatric injury for the development of new safety designs and biofidelic child anthropomorphic dummies. Both nationally and internationally, she has given many invited

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

lectures on the biomechanics of unintentional injury to children, and has been recognized by the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Automotive Occupants Restraints Council for her work. She received her Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

David A. Brent, M.D., is academic chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and professor of psychiatry, pediatrics, and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and he holds an endowed chair in suicide studies. His work has focused on the risk factors, genetics, treatment, and prevention of adolescent suicide and depression. His work has helped to clarify the role of firearms, substance abuse, and mood disorders as risk factors for youth suicide; has demonstrated the familial transmission of suicidal behavior; and has helped shape best practice for the management of adolescent suicidal behavior and depression. He cofounded and now directs Services for Teens at Risk (STAR), a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania–funded program for suicide prevention, the education of professionals, and the treatment of at-risk youth and their families. He was elected a member of the IOM in 2005, served on the IOM Committee on the Pathophysiology and Prevention of Adolescent and Adult Suicide (2000-2002), and currently serves on the IOM-National Research Council (NRC) Board on Children, Youth, and Families. He received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University Medical College and also holds an M.S. Hyg. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health.

B. J. Casey, Ph.D., is the Sackler Professor of Developmental Psychobiology and director of the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University. She is a pioneer in novel uses of neuroimaging methodologies to examine behavioral and brain development. Her program of research focuses on attention and affect regulation, particularly their development, disruption, and neurobiological basis. She has been examining the normal development of brain circuitry involved in attention and behavioral regulation and how disruptions in these brain systems (prefrontal cortex, basal ganglia and cerebellum) can give rise to a number of developmental disorders. Using a mechanistic approach she has dissociated attentional deficits observed across the disorders of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette syndrome, and childhood onset schizophrenia. Furthermore, Dr. Casey and her colleagues have developed marker tasks that appear to tap the integrity of specific parallel basal ganglia thalamocortical circuits implicated across these disorders and to addiction. Most recently Dr. Casey and her colleagues have begun to examine the effects of gene–environment interactions on the development of affect and behavioral regulation and related brain systems. Dr. Casey received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. She served on the IOM Committees on the Science of Adolescent Risk Taking (2008-2011) and on Assessing Juvenile Justice Reform (2010-2013), and is a former member of the IOM-NRC Board on Children, Youth, and Families.

Tracey Covassin, Ph.D., ATC, is an associate professor and certified athletic trainer at Michigan State University (MSU) in the departments of Kinesiology and Intercollegiate Athletics. At MSU, she is also the undergraduate athletic training program director. Her research in sports-related concussion includes sex and age differences in concussion outcomes, neurocognitive impairments, and issues associated with multiple concussions. Dr. Covassin currently directs a multisite high school and college sport-concussion outreach program in the mid-Michigan area. Dr. Covassin has more than 40 professional publications and 70 professional presentations, and has received funding as a principal investigator or co–principal investigator from external sources including the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, the Department of Defense, and CDC. She received her Ph.D. in kinesiology from Temple University.

Joe Doyle is former regional manager, American Development Model, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Districts, at USA Hockey. In this role he oversaw the provision of age-appropriate curriculum to hockey associations to help coaches more effectively coach hockey players and allow players to excel at hockey. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy (AFA) and inaugural inductee into AFA’s Hockey Hall of Fame, Mr. Doyle was an assistant hockey coach and recruiting coordinator for the AFA on three different occasions: 1989-1990, 1994-1998, and 2002-2006.

Eric J. Huang, M.D., Ph.D., is a professor of pathology and neuropathology in the Department of Pathology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He is also director of the UCSF Pediatric Neuropathology Research Lab and staff pathologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Dr. Huang’s research and clinical interests include developmental neurobiology, pediatric neuropathology, and genetic mechanisms and animal models of adult-onset neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He received his medical degree from the National Taiwan University in Taipei and his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Cornell University.

Arthur C. Maerlender, Ph.D., is a neuropsychologist and director of Pediatric Neuropsychological Services at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and is an assistant professor of psychiatry. He is the sports neuropsychologist for Dartmouth Athletics, as

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

well as for youth, high school, college, and professional teams. He serves as the co-leader, Ivy League Concussion Research Collaboration with the Big Ten. He is on the board of governors of the Academy of Brain Injury Specialists for the U.S. Brain Injury Association. He also serves as the chair of the New Hampshire Advisory Council for Sports Concussion and is a board member of the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire. His research and publications are in the areas of sports-related concussions and brain injury, developmental disorders, and learning disorders. He is a former representative-level rugby player and has coached Division I rugby teams. Dr. Maerlender holds a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Notre Dame and completed his postdoctoral residency in neuropsychology at Dartmouth Medical School.

Susan S. Margulies, Ph.D., is the George H. Stephenson Professor in the department of bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an international leader in biomechanics of traumatic head injury and in ventilator-associated lung injuries. Dr. Margulies has more than 30 years of experience in the area of traumatic brain injury research: integrating mechanical properties, animal models, instrumented dolls, patient data, and computational models to identify injury mechanisms that are unique to children and to develop clinical management and therapeutic strategies. She also has experience measuring assessments of cognition, memory, and behavior in immature large animals models of traumatic brain injury. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NSF, CDC, and the Department of Transportation, she has published over 118 peer-reviewed papers. She has served or is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Physiology, the Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, the Journal of Biomechanics, American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cell and Molecular, and the Journal of Neurotrauma. She has served on grant review panels for NSF, NIH, and CDC, and has chaired the NIH Respiratory Integrative Biology and Translational Research study section. Dr. Margulies is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Margulies holds a Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dennis L. Molfese, Ph.D., is Mildred Frances Thompson Professor and Director, Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior, in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Dr. Molfese is an internationally recognized expert on the use of brain recording techniques to study the emerging relationships among brain development, language, and cognitive processes. His broad research interests include work on such projects as developmental changes in brain, language, and cognitive processes across the lifespan; the identification of risk for concussion in

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

high school and college athletes; prediction of recovery from concussion following injury; predicting subsequent cognitive and linguistic skills from infancy; cognitive functions in and interventions for head injured adults; factors underlying lateralization of language and cognitive functions; and phonological and semantic confusions by aphasics. Dr. Molfese served as the chair of a number of national panels in the United States on learning disabilities. He is co-director of 1 of 15 national laboratories that make up the NIH Reading and Learning Disabilities Research Network. He is the recipient of a number of honors for outstanding research contributions from societies such as Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi and received the Kentucky Psychologist of the Year Award. His research has been continuously funded since 1975 through grants from NIH, NSF, the Department of Education, the National Foundation/March of Dimes, the MacArthur Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Dr. Molfese has published some 150 books, journal articles, and book chapters on the relationship between developing brain functions, language, and cognitive processes. Dr. Molfese received his Ph.D. in psychology from Penn State University.

Mayumi L. Prins, Ph.D., is associate professor in residence and director of the education program at the Brain Injury Research Center in the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research interests include understanding the changes in brain metabolism that occur after pediatric traumatic brain injury and how alternative fuels can be used as therapeutic options for the young brain after head injury. In addition to this main focus, she is interested in repeat mild head injuries as they apply to both children and young adult athletes. Dr. Prins received a Ph.D. degree in neurobiology from UCLA. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Neurosurgery at UCLA and a fellowship in anatomy and cell biology at the Medical College of Virginia.

Neha P. Raukar, M.D., M.S., FACEP, is an assistant professor of emergency medicine and director of the Division of Sports Medicine at the Brown University Warren Alpert School of Medicine. She has managed concussions in the Brown University athletes since 2009 and serves on the Ivy League Athletic Medical Association. Dr. Raukar founded and serves as the medical director for the Center for Sports Medicine, which oversees the majority of concussions in the state of Rhode Island. An advocate for legislation to protect athletes from returning to play before they are ready, Dr. Raukar testified at the state senate hearings in favor of passing a concussion law. Dr. Raukar specializes in the medical management of athletic and musculoskeletal injuries. As an emergency physician with further training in sports medicine, she is uniquely trained to care for the acutely injured athlete. Her

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

relevant research interests include the effects of concussion on the young driver, acute biomarkers to diagnose concussion, and the identification of imaging markers to predict concussion recovery. Dr. Raukar received her medical degree from Howard University.

Nancy R. Temkin, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Biostatistics and the Department of Neurological Surgery and an adjunct professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington (UW). She is currently the principal investigator for the UW Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/Traumatic Brain Injury Clinical Consortium Study Site for the Department of Defense and is a principal investigator and executive committee member for the Transforming Research and Clinical Knowledge in Traumatic Brain Injury (TRACK-TBI) consortium for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Dr. Temkin has devoted her career as a biostatistician to the study of TBI, its consequences, and potential treatments to ameliorate them. These studies have resulted in extensive experience in study design, data management, clinical trial protocol development and implementation, data quality control, and data analyses. Dr. Temkin is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and recipient of Service Award from the American Epilepsy Society. She has been on several TBI expert working groups, scientific advisory boards, and data and safety monitoring boards for CDC and NINDS. Dr. Temkin served on the IOM Committee on Gulf War and Health: Long-Term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury (2007-2008). She received her Ph.D. in statistics from the State University of New York (Buffalo).

Kasisomayajula Viswanath, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard School of Public Health and in the McGraw-Patterson Center for Population Sciences at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. His primary research is in documenting the relationship between communication inequalities, poverty and health disparities, and knowledge translation to address health disparities. He has written more than 150 journal articles and book chapters concerning communication inequalities and health disparities, knowledge translation, public health communication campaigns, e-health and digital divide, public health preparedness and the delivery of health communication interventions to underserved populations. He is the co-editor of three books: Mass Media, Social Control and Social Change (Iowa State University Press, 1999), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research & Practice (Jossey Bass, 2008), and The Role of Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use (National Cancer Institute, 2008). He was also the editor of the Social and Behavioral Research section of the 12-volume International Encyclopedia of Communication (Blackwell Publishing, 2008). In recogni-

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

tion of his academic and professional achievements, Dr. Viswanath received several awards, including Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award (2010), jointly given out by the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association, and the Mayhew Derryberry Award from the American Public Health Association for his contribution to health education research and theory (2009). He delivered the 23rd Annual Aubrey Fisher Lecture at University of Utah in 2009. He was elected Fellow of the International Communication Association (2011), the Society for Behavioral Medicine (2008), and the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (2006). He was also the chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Health Marketing at CDC, from 2007-2010. He has served as a member of the IOM Committee on Gulf War and Health: Treatment of Chronic Multisymptom Illness (2011-2013). He is a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. His research is supported by funding from private and public agencies, including NIH and CDC.

Kevin D. Walter, M.D., FAAP, is an associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Department of Pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Board certified in pediatrics and sports medicine, Dr. Walter is currently the program director of Pediatric and Adolescent Primary Care Sports Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin and also practices at the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Clinics-Greenway location. He is a co-founder of The Medical College of Wisconsin Sports Concussion Program. Dr. Walter has published articles and given many national presentations on a variety of sports medicine topics. He was a coauthor on “Sport-Related Concussion in Children and Adolescents” published in Pediatrics in 2010. He is a co-editor and author for the book Pediatric Handbook of Concussion. Dr. Walter’s clinical interests include sports injuries in the young athlete, concussion, back pain in the adolescent athlete, and throwing injuries in the young athlete. He also has a special interest in injury prevention, sport specialization, and the culture of youth sports. He has provided medical coverage for a wide range of events and has been a team physician for several high schools and colleges. Since 2006, Dr. Walter has been a member of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee where he has helped to create guidelines for the safe participation of Wisconsin’s high school athletes. He was appointed to the National Federation of State High School Associations Sports Medicine Advisory Committee in 2008. He is also the vice chair of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and an active member of the Council on Sports

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

Medicine and Fitness. Dr. Walter attended medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Joseph L. Wright, M.D., M.P.H., is senior vice president for Community Affairs and head of the Child Health Advocacy Institute, a newly established center of excellence at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC, the nation’s third-oldest children’s hospital. In that capacity, Dr. Wright provides strategic leadership for the organization’s advocacy mission, public policy positions, and community partnership initiatives. Academically, Dr. Wright is professor and vice chairman in the Department of Pediatrics, as well as professor of emergency medicine and health policy at the GWU Schools of Medicine and Public Health and is among the original cohort of board-certified pediatric emergency physicians in the United States. He provides regional leadership as state medical director for pediatrics within the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and national leadership as principal investigator of the federally funded Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for Children National Resource Center. Dr. Wright’s major scholarly interests include emergency medical services for children, youth violence prevention, and the needs of underserved communities, areas in which he has contributed to more than 70 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and book chapters in the scientific literature. Dr. Wright has been recognized for his advocacy work throughout his career, including the Shining Star award from the Los Angeles–based Starlight Foundation, the Fellow Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for exceptional contributions in injury prevention, the Distinguished Service Award from the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine, and induction into Delta Omega, the nation’s public health honor society. He served as a member of the IOM Committee on Palliative and End-of-Life Care for Children and Their Families (2001-2003). He is currently a sitting member of the AAP Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine. Dr. Wright serves on several national advisory bodies, including as an inaugural appointee to the Department of Transportation’s National EMS Advisory Council, the Board of Trustees of the National Children’s Museum, the March of Dimes Public Policy Advisory Council, and recently as an Obama administration appointee to the Pediatric Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Wright regularly delivers invited expert testimony before Congress and state and municipal legislative bodies, and has made numerous media appearances and lectures widely to both professional and lay audiences. Dr. Wright earned a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, his M.D. from Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences/New Jersey Medical School, and an M.P.H. in administrative medicine and management from GWU.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Committee Members." Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. 2014. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18377.
×
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In the past decade, few subjects at the intersection of medicine and sports have generated as much public interest as sports-related concussions - especially among youth. Despite growing awareness of sports-related concussions and campaigns to educate athletes, coaches, physicians, and parents of young athletes about concussion recognition and management, confusion and controversy persist in many areas. Currently, diagnosis is based primarily on the symptoms reported by the individual rather than on objective diagnostic markers, and there is little empirical evidence for the optimal degree and duration of physical rest needed to promote recovery or the best timing and approach for returning to full physical activity.

Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture reviews the science of sports-related concussions in youth from elementary school through young adulthood, as well as in military personnel and their dependents. This report recommends actions that can be taken by a range of audiences - including research funding agencies, legislatures, state and school superintendents and athletic directors, military organizations, and equipment manufacturers, as well as youth who participate in sports and their parents - to improve what is known about concussions and to reduce their occurrence. Sports-Related Concussions in Youth finds that while some studies provide useful information, much remains unknown about the extent of concussions in youth; how to diagnose, manage, and prevent concussions; and the short- and long-term consequences of concussions as well as repetitive head impacts that do not result in concussion symptoms.

The culture of sports negatively influences athletes' self-reporting of concussion symptoms and their adherence to return-to-play guidance. Athletes, their teammates, and, in some cases, coaches and parents may not fully appreciate the health threats posed by concussions. Similarly, military recruits are immersed in a culture that includes devotion to duty and service before self, and the critical nature of concussions may often go unheeded. According to Sports-Related Concussions in Youth, if the youth sports community can adopt the belief that concussions are serious injuries and emphasize care for players with concussions until they are fully recovered, then the culture in which these athletes perform and compete will become much safer. Improving understanding of the extent, causes, effects, and prevention of sports-related concussions is vitally important for the health and well-being of youth athletes. The findings and recommendations in this report set a direction for research to reach this goal.

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