The NFL Charities have granted more than $1.6 million to support sports-related medical research to 16 institutions' funds for research and development aimed at spinal cord and concussion injury prevention and treatment, according to various sources.
The fund granted researchers at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College $100,000 to research tissue engineering for spinal injuries, according to a Newswise report. The team hopes to create a living, bioengineered intervertebral disc that can be implanted in patients with degenerative disc disease. The IVDs consist of an inner nucleus surrounded by an outer annulus. The scientists are growing cells to multiply on a natural mold to recreate a fully functional, implantable disc.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and East Tennessee State University received $100,000 from the fund to study concussions in youth football, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report. The research will examine football players age 8-12, a group that is underrepresented in sports-related concussion research. The study will examine the neurocognitive effects of concussions and how body size, competition level and age play a role in the injury.
UC San Diego received $100,000 from the fund to study traumatic brain injury in military personnel, high school and college athletes, according to a Union-Tribune report. The researchers at UCSD have been developing a new method of diagnosing traumatic brain injury through Magnetoencephalography and Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Mild traumatic brain injuries that don't show up on CT or MRI could appear on the MEG scans as slower-than-normal brain waves.
Further funds went to groups researching dementia in football players, dynamic heart rate behavior in NFL athletes, MRSA for athletes playing on synthetic turfgrass systems and the role of cervical related concussions, according to the Newswise report.
Read more coverage on concussion research:
- Most Sports-Related Concussions Occur in Head-to-Head Collisions
- 10 Stories for Team Physicians About Concussion Awareness
- Athletes Can Experience Brain Damage Without Concussion Symptoms
The fund granted researchers at Cornell University and Weill Cornell Medical College $100,000 to research tissue engineering for spinal injuries, according to a Newswise report. The team hopes to create a living, bioengineered intervertebral disc that can be implanted in patients with degenerative disc disease. The IVDs consist of an inner nucleus surrounded by an outer annulus. The scientists are growing cells to multiply on a natural mold to recreate a fully functional, implantable disc.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and East Tennessee State University received $100,000 from the fund to study concussions in youth football, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report. The research will examine football players age 8-12, a group that is underrepresented in sports-related concussion research. The study will examine the neurocognitive effects of concussions and how body size, competition level and age play a role in the injury.
UC San Diego received $100,000 from the fund to study traumatic brain injury in military personnel, high school and college athletes, according to a Union-Tribune report. The researchers at UCSD have been developing a new method of diagnosing traumatic brain injury through Magnetoencephalography and Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Mild traumatic brain injuries that don't show up on CT or MRI could appear on the MEG scans as slower-than-normal brain waves.
Further funds went to groups researching dementia in football players, dynamic heart rate behavior in NFL athletes, MRSA for athletes playing on synthetic turfgrass systems and the role of cervical related concussions, according to the Newswise report.
Read more coverage on concussion research:
- Most Sports-Related Concussions Occur in Head-to-Head Collisions
- 10 Stories for Team Physicians About Concussion Awareness
- Athletes Can Experience Brain Damage Without Concussion Symptoms