Conference Background and Mission
The Pac 12 Student-Athlete Health Conference (SAHC) is a comprehensive educational and business meeting aimed at collaboration amongst the sports medicine teams and growth within the Pac 12 conference. The meeting functions to provide the Pac 12 Conference with expert opinion and advice on all issues related to the health and safety of its student‐athletes, and to provide a forum for education, research and cooperation for its sports medicine members.
The meeting has expanded to approximately 150 attendees from around the conference. These include the Head Team Physicians for Orthopedics and Family Medicine, Head Athletic Trainers, Senior Women’s Athletic Trainers, Head Football Athletic Trainers, Sports Dietitians, Mental Health Professionals, Athletic Directors, and Faculty Athletic Representatives. In addition, there will be research teams presenting projects from across the Pac-12 and administrators from the Pac-12 office.
For more information on the Pac 12 Health and Well Being Initiative, click here
Grant Awarded Research Projects
PI: Dr. Kenneth Hunt
University of Colorado, Boulder
| Title: The STEALTH Project Pilot Study: Student-Athlete Health Assessment Using PROMIS Tools |
| Project Summary: The study proposes the use of National Institute of Health’s Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) surveys to assess the impact of participation and injuries in Pac-12 sports, inclusive of the physical, mental and social health of student-athletes before, during and after their competition seasons. The results of this pilot study will help identify student-athlete populations that may be at elevated risk, and allow for the identification of best practices that allow coaches, trainers, therapists and other healthcare providers to optimize student-athlete health and well-being as they participate over the course of a season. |
PI: Dr. David Camarillo
Co-PIs: Dr. Gerald Grant (Stanford), Dr. Michael Zenith (Stanford), Dr. Charles Liu (USC)
Stanford University collaborating with University of Southern California
| Title: Head Trauma and Mental Health: From Head Impacts to Brain Injury, Determining the Mechanism Underlying Concussions in Pac-12 Football |
| Project Summary: In an effort to determine the causes of concussive injury, this study plans to implement the use of the Stanford Instrumented Mouthguard 2.0 (MiG2) in combination with MR imaging with the football teams at two Pac-12 institutions to collect data on concussions. This will expand upon recent research and data collected with an instrumented mouthguard in combination with MRI with the Stanford football program. In that study, researchers discovered that concussions could be predicted by peak head angular acceleration, correlating with signal changes on MRI. At its completion, this will be the first study to identify mechanisms of concussion by tracing the head angular acceleration input, to brain tissue damage, to advanced imaging detection of injury. |
PIs: Dr. Kim Harmon, Dr. Emily Kroshus and Dr. Sara Chrisman
Co-PI: Dr. Ann Glang (UO)
University of Washington collaborating with Seattle Children’s Research Institute, University of Oregon and University of Colorado, Boulder
| Title: Head Trauma: Strengthening Concussion Education by Engaging Medical Staff: Continued Program Development and Evaluation |
| Project Summary: Expanding on a previous grant project that led to the development of a web-based concussion training platform (www.GoHuddle.net), this study aims to 1) evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the platform, and 2) enhance the impact of the platform through a preseason meeting between coaches and medical staff about concussion. This study will use a participant-engaged approach to develop materials to support such a meeting and will conduct an evaluation of the platform and the additive impact of the preseason meeting in all interested Pac-12 institutions. |
PI: Dr. Marc Norcross
Co-PIs: Dr. Samuel Johnson (OSU) and Dr. Christopher Scaffidi (OSU)
Oregon State University collaborating with Stanford University, University of California, Los Angeles and University of Washington
| Title: Injury Surveillance: Scaling Up Student-Athlete Exposure Tracking Using PacTrac |
| Project Summary: After a prior grant project developed PacTrac, a web-based application system that allows athletic trainers (ATs) to capture detailed athletic exposures to evaluate injury rate data, it was determined that the level of detail in which exposure is reported can influence injury rate estimates, and that the feasibility of collecting the most detail exposure information varied across AT staffing, sport and schools. The objectives of the proposal are to scale PacTrac for use conference-wide, engage stakeholders to develop conference-wide minimum exposure reporting standards for each sport, and assess the implementation feasibility of those standards using PacTrac. Upon completion, the project will provide the Conference and its member schools with the flexible exposure reporting system needed to harness the full potential of the Pac-12’s Sports Injury Registry Management and Analytics Program (SIRMAP) to support local and conference-wide improvements in student-athlete health and wellness. |
PI: Dr. Andrew Anderson
Co-PIs: Dr. Ken “Bo” Foreman, Dr. Stepehen Aoki and Dr. Travis Maak
University of Utah
| Title: Injury and Prevention: Developing a Comprehensive, Quantitative Understanding of Hip Morphometrics and Biomechanics in Collegiate Athletes at Risk for Developing Femoroacetabular Impingement Syndrome |
| Project Summary: Femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) is a common cause of hip pain and dysfunction among collegiate athletes, and a known precursor to hip osteoarthritis. Prevention is the key to reducing rates of FAIS, but research in this area is lacking. The research team believes effective prevention of FAIS starts with an in-depth understanding of how hip anatomy is altered in three-dimensions, and the extent to which abnormal hip anatomy disrupts hip biomechanics, prior to the onset of symptoms. In this study, researchers will compare 3D hip shape and biomechanics between collegiate athletes, control subjects that do not have a history of participation in the same sports, and FAIS patients who are seen in treated in the clinic. The future impact of this work is that it will support a prospective trial to determine if application of a modified training regimen reduces the prevalence of FAIS in athletes. |
PIs: Taylor Ricci and Nathan Braaten
Oregon State University
| Title: Mental Health: #DamWorthIt Campaign |
| Project Summary: The #DamWorthIt Campaign, which was launched at Oregon State University in 2018, has a mission statement of utilizing the influential platform of sport to open the conversation around mental health in collegiate athletics, ending the stigma to make every team, every sport, and every student-athlete know that they are #DamWorthIt! The #DamWorthIt Campaign is designed to be a comprehensive program that will work to end the stigma around mental health through three pillars: education, resources and awareness/comfort. The #DamWorthIt Campaign aims to normalize, destigmatize and spread awareness about the epidemic of mental health in collegiate athletics through these three distinct pillars. The focus of this grant project is to expand the #DamWorthIt program throughout Pac-12 Conference Athletic Departments and Student-Athlete Advisory Committees. |
PI: Dr. George Brooks
Co-PI: Dr. Daniela Kaufer
University of California, Berkeley
| Title: Head Trauma: Roles of Nutritive Support and Supplementation |
| Project Summary: Studies have shown that the brain uses lactate as a fuel source when available. Studies have also shown that patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) are often undernourished, meaning the brain has less fuel sources to use for healing. The goal of this project is to determine whether or not supplementation with lactate on the background of adequate nutrition will improve TBI recovery by giving the brain an extra fuel source. This will be accomplished through a series of studies on laboratory rats, where rats with mild TBIs that mimic concussions will be given standard of care (inadequate) nutrition, adequate nutrition, and adequate nutrition plus extra lactate. Brain healing will be assessed to see if appropriate nutrition with and without lactate supplementation improves recovery time and outcomes. |
PI: Dr. Michael Hahn
Co-PIs: Dr. Scott Delp, Dr. Rodger Kram, Dr. Alena Grabowski, Dr. Jill McNitt-Gray, Dr. Lorraine Turcotte, Dr. Brent Liu, Dr. Kormelia Kulig
University of Oregon collaborating with University of Colorado, University of Southern California & Stanford University
| Title: Overuse Injuries/Injury Prevention: Integration of Biomechanics-based Informatics for Prevention of Stress Fractures |
| Project Summary: Stress fractures are a very common form of injury in athletes, especially long distance runners. This project’s goal is to analyze a group of runners’ biomechanical information such as foot motion patterns, foot-to-ground contact patterns, and accelerations and then track stress fracture development in these runners over a three year period to see which biomechanical patterns are associated with the development of stress fractures. This new biomechanics-based information can then be integrated with already known risk factors such as nutrition status and training volume/intensity to predict runners who are at a higher risk of stress fracture. |
PI: Dr. Christopher Kweon
Co-PIs: Dr. Albert Gee & Dr. Scott Telfer
University of Washington
| Title: Injury Prevention: Simple motion capture technology for readiness of return to sport assessment and injury risk prediction |
| Project Summary: There are few objective and widely accepted methods to determine when student-athletes are ready to return to their sport after injury or surgery, and even fewer methods available to measure abnormal joint movements. The goal of this study is to compare a low cost simple motion capture technology (Microsoft Kinect™) to the gold standard (but more expensive and complicated) standard motion capture system (Vicon™). Functional movement data will be evaluated in healthy volunteers using both systems and results will be compared to help determine if Microsoft Kinect is a viable option to measure abnormal joint movements and help facilitate safe return to sports after injury at a lower cost than standard systems. |
PI: Dr. Doug Aukerman and the Pac-12 Brain Trauma Task Force
The Pac-12 Concussion Coordinating Unit – Project Director: Dr. Matthew McQueen, Co-PI: Dr. Theresa Hernandez
| Title: Pac-12 and NCAA Collaboration – Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium Data Collection: Establishing a Research Infrastructure and Framework |
| Project Summary: This project, co-funded by the NCAA, will create the first full-conference regional research hub of the landmark CARE Consortium. The Consortium is funded by a partnership of the U.S. Department of Defense Military Health System and the NCAA, and is a multi-site, longitudinal investigation of concussion and repetitive head impacts in NCAA athletes and military service academy cadets that addresses major gaps in the understanding of concussion. Through this project, each Pac-12 institution will be able to collect neurocognitive and neurobehavioral data on athletes at baseline, at the time a concussion occurs, and then at multiple time-points over the course of the year following an injury. |
PI: Dr. Matthew McQueen
Co-PIs: Dr. Theresa Hernandez, Dr. William Byrnes & Dr. Ken Wright
University of Colorado
| Title: Health and Wellness: Assessing Student-Athlete Health and Performance |
| Project Summary: This project proposes a comprehensive approach to optimize the academic, athletic, health, and wellness experience of student-athletes. Specifically, the project seeks to assess important indicators of student-athlete health and wellness, integrate key information within the Pac-12 Sports Injury Registry Management and Analytics Program, and implement and disseminate important best practices for sustainable student-athlete training and performance throughout the Pac-12. |
PIs: Dr. Kim Harmon & Dr. Emily Kroshus
Co-PIs: Dr. Sara Chrisman (UW) & Dr. Ann Glang (UO)
University of Washington collaborating with University of Oregon
| Title: Pac-12 Student-Athlete Project on Developing Coach Education |
| Project Summary: This project aims to develop evidence-based, easily scalable educational programs for college coaches about topics related to student-athlete health and safety, beginning with concussions. |
PI: Dr. Michael Fredericson
Co-PI: Dr. Aurelia Nattiv (UCLA)
Stanford University collaborating with University of California, Los Angeles
| Title: Overuse Injuries/Injury Prevention: A Prospective Study to Improve Bone Health and Reduce Incidence of Bone Stress Injuries in Pac-12 Female Distance Runners |
| Project Summary: The primary objective of this project is to improve the health of female collegiate distance runners, reduce the incidence and severity of bone stress injuries, and shorten recovery time. This will be accomplished with an active nutrition education program emphasizing the achievement of positive energy balance measured by increasing energy intake and/or reducing exercise energy expenditure. |
PI: Dr. Kim Harmon
Co-PIs: Dr. Jonathan Drezner, Dr. David Owens & Dr. Jordan Prutkin
University of Washington collaborating with all Pac-12 schools
| Title: Cardiovascular Screening in the Pac-12 Conference: Establishing Best Practices |
| Project Summary: Sudden cardiac death is the leading medical cause of death in college athletes and has been designated as a high priority area for research by the Pac-12. This study is designed to answer critical questions regarding screening for cardiovascular conditions that predispose athletes to sudden death by comparing the schools that screen with history and a physical to those that add an electrocardiogram. The study will compare conditions identified, total costs, costs per diagnosis, time lost from competition, and any adverse outcomes related to screening with each strategy. |
PI: Dr. Craig Heller
Co-PI: Dr. Dennis Grahn
Stanford University
| Title: Thermal Management for Athletes: Problems and Opportunities |
| Project Summary: The Heller laboratory at Stanford has developed a unique technology that rapidly extracts heat from the core of the body. It has been used in a number of cases where athletes were showing signs of heat illness, and recovery was rapid. This project will include a telemetric study of changes in body temperature of athletes during practice and competition as a function of environmental conditions, as well as comparative studies of methods to achieve rapid recovery from hyperthermia and studies of the benefits of heat extraction in physical conditioning of female athletes. |
PI: Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Tood
Co-PIs: Dr. Charlie Hicks-Little, Dr. Perry Renshaw, Dr. Erin McGlade & Dr. Andrew Prescot
University of Utah
| Title: Mental Health and Head Trauma: Brain Health in Male and Female Basketball Student-Athletes at the University of Utah |
| Project Summary: There is a need to better define the neurobiological, cognitive, and behavior changes in competitive athletes prone to head injury both pre- and post-injury. The aim of this study is to assess the association between concussive symptoms, mood states, cognitive performance, and brain changes in female and male basketball student-athletes and football student-athletes. |
PI: Dr. Marc Norcross
Co-PIs: Dr. Samuel Johnson & Dr. Viktor Bovbjerg
Oregon State University
| Title: Injury Surveillance: How much is enough? Enhancing the precision of team injury estimates using detailed athlete exposure information |
| Project Summary: In the first funding cycle of the Grant Program, the Pac-12 funded the creation of a conference-wide sports injury database with the help of Presagia Sports, an Athlete Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platform. The database enables Conference doctors and athletic trainers to analyze the prevalence of sports injuries and conduct investigations on aspects of injury management such as prevention, treatment, and concussion assessment. In conjunction with the advent of the conference-wide database, the results of the OSU project will provide essential evidence that the Pac-12 can immediately use as a basis for deciding what level of athletic exposure data should be captured in order to harness the full potential of the new database. |
SPEAKERS
DAYS
MEMBER SCHOOLS
GRANT AWARD DOLLARS
Invited Speakers for 2019
(Click on Speaker Name to View the Complete Bio)
Schedule
Our 3-Day Agenda of Conference Events
8:00 AM
Student-Athlete Health and Well Being Board Meeting
12:00 PM
LUNCH for Board Members
1:00 PM
Student-Athlete Health and Well Being Board Meeting
Continuation of morning board meeting to complete agenda items. Max duration – 2hrs
3:00 PM
Committee Meetings
- Brain Trauma Task Force
- Grant Review Committee
- SIRMAP
- Mental Health Task Force
7:30 PMAthletic Training Group Only
Vendor Presentations for Athletic Trainers
8:00 PM
WELCOME RECEPTION presented by Game On Mouthguards
6:45-7:45 AM
BREAKFAST in Sponsor Lounge
7:45 AM
Welcome Address
7:45am Tandi Hawkey: Welcome Address & Announcements
7:50am Woodie Dixon: Pac 12 State of the Union Address
Tandi Hawkey (UCLA) & Woodie Dixon (Pac 12)8:00 AMLindsay Shaffer, Headspace Director of Sports & Fitness
Keynote Speaker
8:25 AMJohn Parsons, Managing Director NCAA Sport Science Institute
NCAA Update
8:55 AM
Pac 12 Committee Updates
Student-Athlete Health and Well Being Board – Kim Harmon, MD (UW)
Brain Trauma Task Force – Doug Aukerman, MD (OSU)
Grant Committee – Dan Nordquist (WSU), Lynn Fister MA, CPA (Pac 12)
Mental Health Task Force – Amy Athey, PhD (UA)
9:15 AMModerator: Robin Scholefield, PhD (USC)
Morning Session: Mental Health & Wellness Considerations
9:15 AMDr. Kenneth Chew, Indiana State University
"A Long Time Coming: The Impact of Diversity in Sport"
10:00 AM
BREAK in Sponsor Lounge
10:20 AMBen Cort & Dr. LaTisha Bader
"Marijuana in College Athletics: The Health Effects, Current Use & Current Industry"
11:10 AM
Morning Session: Orthopedic Concepts
11:10am “The Use of Biologics in Sports Medicine” – Jason Dragoo, MD (Stan)
11:25am “What’s New in Surgical Treatment of ACL Tears” – Christopher Kweon, MD (UW)
11:40am “Current Trends and Updates: Hip Arthroscopy in Young Athletes” – Kostas Economopoulos (ASU)
11:55 AM
Discipline Business Meetings -- All Institutional Personnel
- Orthopedic Physicians
- Primary Care/Sports Medicine Physicians
- Athletic Trainers
- Mental Health Professionals
- Dietitians
12:35 PM
LUNCH in Sponsor Lounge, Presented by SyncThink
1:30 PM
Vendor Presentation, Halo Neuroscience
1:35 PM
Afternoon Session: Brain Trauma Task Force Session: “CTE: Where Do We Stand in 2019?”
Introductions: Sunday Henry, MD (WSU)
“Setting the Stage for a Conversation About CTE” Stan Herring, MD (UW)
“Neuropathology of CTE: Where We Are, and Where We Need to Be” Dirk Keene, MD
“What We Are Told We Know About CTE, What Expert Consensus Opinions Tell Us About CTE, and the Neuropsychiatry of Life” Gary Solomon, MD (Vanderbilt)
Questions and Discussion
Moderator: Sunday Henry, MD (WSU)3:15 PM
BREAK in Sponsor Lounge
3:35 PM
Breakout Education Sessions
Room 1: “Athlete Monitoring & Injury Prevention in Soccer” Andy Guard, PhD, Sport Scientist, US Soccer
Room 2: “Upper Extremity Orthopedic Talk” Patrick Greis, MD (Utah)
Room 3: “Integrating Nutrition into the High Performance Team Model” Clint Wattenberg, RD, Director of Nutrition, UFC
Moderator: Tandi Hawkey MA, ATC (UCLA)4:10 PM
Awarded Grant Research Presentations
4:10pm “SIRMAP Project Updates” Masa Teramoto (Pac 12)
4:30pm “Pac 12 and NCAA Collaboration-CARE (Concussion Assessment Research & Education) Consortium Data Collection: Establishing a Research Infrastructure and Framework” & Pac 12 Equipment Grant Implementation, Doug Aukerman, MD (OSU) Matthew McQueen, ScD (CU) Theresa Hernandez (CU) Adam Bohr (CU)
4:45pm “Cardiovascular Screening in the Pac 12 Conference: Establishing Best Practices” Kim Harmon, MD (UW)
Moderator: Lynn Fister (Pac 12)5:00 PM
Vendor Open House/Happy Hour
5:00pm
Brainstorming Session for Potential Research Projects
Orthopedic/Athletic Training Moderator:
Primary Care/Mental Health/Dietitian Moderator:
SIRMAP/CAP Moderator:
7:30 PM
DINNER presented by DonJoy
6:45-8:00 AM
BREAKFAST in Sponsor Lounge
8:00 AM
Awarded Grant Research Presentations
8:00am “Thermal Management for Athletes: Problems and Opportunities” Craig Heller (Stanford)
8:15am “NCAA for the Mind Matters Challenge Project: An Intervention to Promote Immediacy in Concussion Reporting” Steve Corman (ASU)
Moderator: Dan Nordquist (WSU)8:30 AM
BREAK
8:40 AM
Educational Presentations
Room One
8:40am “Omega-3s and the Collegiate Athlete – Research to Application” Andrea Vanderwoude, RD (USC)
9:10am “Mindfulness Training & Athlete Well-Being” Dylan Firsick, PhD (USC)
9:40am “Headspace Panel” Doug Aukerman, MD (OSU) Fernando Frias, PhD (OSU) Mark Pocinich, ATC (UCLA)
10:10am “Probiotics in Performance Nutrition” Phil Lewis, RD (UA)
Room Two
8:40am “Sleep and Sports Performance” Meeta Sing, MD
9:10am “Injury Monitoring and Load Management at Cirque de Soleil” Kerry Gordon, ATC, Senior Head Therapist, RSD
9:40am “Early Sports Specialization in College Athletes” Sharon Hame, MD (UCLA)
10:10am “SyncThink Clinical Findings and Interpretations” Jam Ghajar, MD (Stanford)
Room Three
8:40am “Current Practices of Return to Sport Testing” Jeremy Vail, PT, ATC (UCLA)
9:10am “Surgical Management of SLAP Tears” Seth Gamradt, MD (USC)
9:40am “Conservative Management of SLAP Tears” Chuck Thigpen, PhD, PT, ATC (60 min)
10:45 AM
"A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to the Treatment of Syndesmotic Ankle Sprains"
Surgical Management: Ken Hunt, MD (CU)
Non-Operative Management: Sourav Poddar, MD (CU)
Rehabilitation Considerations: Travis Halseth, ATC (UO)
Nutrition Interventions: Ema Thake, RD (UW)
11:45 AM
Discipline Case Studies/Best Practice Reviews – All Institutional Personnel
- Orthopedic Physicians
- Primary Care/Sports Medicine Physicians
- Athletic Trainers
- Mental Health Professionals
- Dietitians
12:15 PM
Summary of Discipline Business Meetings/Discussion
- Orthopedic Physicians
- Primary Care/Sports Medicine Physicians
- Athletic Trainers
- Mental Health Professionals
- Dietitians
12:25 PMTandi Hawkey, ATC (UCLA)
Closing Remarks
12:30 PM
ADJOURN
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