The University of Arkansas established the Office for Sport Concussion Research in 2014 with the mission of improving the standard of care for athletes with sport-related concussion. These goals are achieved through continuing education and outreach activities involving sports medicine stakeholders (e.g., athletes, coaches, medical professionals and parents) and conducting clinical research that transforms and advances clinical care.
Under the direction of R.J. Elbin, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, strategic partnerships with local/regional high schools, youth sport groups, state/local organizations — such as the Arkansas Activities Association and Arkansas Athletic Training Association — and medical institutions — including University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the Inova Sports Medicine Concussion Program of Fairfax, Virginia — are ongoing. They comprise the current outreach and research initiatives of the office that are described below.
UofA Sport Concussion
Community Outreach and Research Initiative
This community, field-based initiative provides outreach and conducts research activities at several high schools and youth sports leagues in Northwest Arkansas — reaching more than 3,000 athletes to date. UofA researchers connect with sports medicine professionals, teachers, coaches and parents and provide continuing education about sport-related concussion. These community partnerships also provide opportunity and access for conducting field-based, prospective research studies on concussion for UofA faculty and students.
These partnerships have yielded more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and 100 professional presentations and have been leveraged to secure funding from several intramural and extramural sources that include the Department of Defense (DOD) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
UofA Office for Sport Concussion Research /
Inova Sports Concussion Program Collaboration
In 2018, the UofA Office for Sport Concussion Research established a clinical research collaboration with the Inova Sports Medicine Concussion Program based in Fairfax, Virginia. The Inova program is a physician-based team of experts that are trained in the assessment, management and treatment of concussion.
This specialty clinic provides care for more than 4,500 patients per year and is committed to producing clinical research on sport-related concussion. The UofA Office for Sport Concussion Research is a remote research arm to this clinic. This collaboration has enabled UofA researchers and students to observe specialty clinicians and therapists and create research pathways for enrolling patients for collaborative studies between these institutions.
