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- Posted Tuesday May 14, 2013
TGen and Riddell Announce Partnership for Biomarker Study of Concussive Injuries
Riddell's Sideline Response System to provide real-time head impact data on athletes
PHOENIX, Ariz. and ROSEMONT, Ill. - May 14, 2013
- Head protection plays a vital role in the health and
safety of any athlete participating in helmeted sports. In a
move that could help revolutionize football player safety, the
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and Easton-Bell
Sports through its Riddell brand, announced today it would work
together on a study designed to advance athlete concussion
detection and treatment. Information gathered through the
study will also be used to develop new football headgear and
further refine updates to player monitoring technology.
"TGen welcomes this remarkable opportunity to join Riddell in a
major research study with the goal of helping to objectively
monitor a player on the field (with microelectronics combined with
nucleic acid sequencing)," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, TGen President
and Research Director. "TGen's work over the past several years in
the area of head trauma is accelerating new insights to the
critical study of concussion injury."
The genesis of this potentially groundbreaking study is to merge a
player's genetic information with real-time microelectronic
information captured by Riddell's Sideline Response System (SRS). A
highly sophisticated, data-intensive system, Riddell SRS provides
researchers, athletic staff and players with a wide range of
valuable information on the number and severity of head impacts a
player receives during games and practices. Employed since
2003 by several well-respected research institutions, Riddell SRS
has captured 1.8 million impacts from youth to elite football
competition, and its data has led to impactful changes to rules,
how the game is played and coached, and has informed new helmet
designs.
"As the industry leader in football head protection, Riddell has
the unique opportunity to advance TGen's groundbreaking medical
research into the brain as we work together towards identifying a
way to accurately and quickly diagnose concussions in football
players," said Dan Arment, President of Riddell."With
Riddell's commitment to player protection and history of
innovation, we are hopeful that our collaboration with TGen will
help us better protect athletes and lead us to meaningful
advancements in helmet technology that move the game of football
forward."
A key question the study seeks to answer is: are the effects of
sub-concussive hits identifiable through blood-based molecular
information? "Based on our current information, we believe this
study will have the unique ability to provide a molecular 'risk'
and 'recovery' score, enabling physicians to better identify when a
player might be expected to recover from the effects of the
concussion and get back on the field," said Dr. Kendall Van
Keuren-Jensen, TGen Assistant Professor, whose technique for
studying molecular information at a micro level will drive the
research.
While the joint study will begin with football, the Riddell-TGen
partnership has the potential to improve sports equipment
manufactured by brands in the broader Easton-Bell Sports portfolio,
including headgear for hockey, baseball, cycling, snowsports, and
powersports. "As the awareness of head injury grows across all
sports, supporting science like this will help us offer a more
protective helmet solution to the athlete," said Arment.
Local Institutes and Advocate to Join Study
As part of the study, TGen will work with the Barrow Neurological
Institute whose B.R.A.I.N.S. (Barrow Resource for Acquired Injury
to the Nervous System) program treats patients who have sustained a
traumatic brain or spinal cord injury.
"Combining our neurological expertise and the information from our
B.R.A.I.N.S. program, with TGen's genomic knowledge and Riddell's
helmet technology, will provide great insight into how we measure
concussions and how they affect the human brain," said Dr. Javier
Cárdenas, a neurologist and brain injury expert with Barrow
Neurological Institute. "Thegenomic data could aid in the
treatment process and will greatly add to the growing body of
knowledge we're acquiring about head injury patients."
Joining Barrow will be athletic trainers from A.T. Still
University and SAFE Football, which teaches alternative game-play
techniques that reduce the number of head impacts while increasing
competitiveness.
"Our partnerships with Barrow Neurological Institute, A.T. Still
University, and Safe Football provide a multifaceted approach to
identifying athletes in need of medical attention, to educating
athletes on concussion and brain injury, to reducing the risk of
injury through development of better techniques, and to improving
treatment outcomes," said Dr. Matt Huentelman, TGen Associate
Professor and a co-investigator on the study.
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About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with neurological disorders, cancer, and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally world-wide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org.
Media Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602.343.8704
[email protected]
About Riddell
Founded in 1929, Riddell is a premier designer and developer of
protective sports equipment and a recognized leader in helmet
technology and innovation. One of Easton-Bell Sports Inc.'s most
well-known brands and the Official Helmet of the NFL®, Riddell is
the leading manufacturer of football helmets, shoulder pads and
reconditioning services (cleaning, repairing, repainting and
recertifying existing equipment). For more information, visit our
website at www.riddell.com, like the Riddell
Facebook page, or follow Riddell on Twitter @RiddellSports.
Media Contact:
Erin Griffin, Easton-Bell Sports & Riddell
224.585.5231 | [email protected]