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- Posted Tuesday June 10, 2014
TGen and Arizona Community Foundation partner to support ASU football concussion research
TGen Concussion Research Fund is first under ACF's new Jerry Colangelo Center for Sports Philanthropy
PHOENIX, Ariz.- June 10,
2014- The Arizona Community Foundation has created a
new philanthropy center named for Arizona sports mogul Jerry
Colangelo, and the Center's first project is a fund to support
concussion research led by the Translational Genomics Research
Institute (TGen), in partnership with Riddell, Barrow
Neurological Institute and Arizona State University.
The TGen Concussion Research Fund is the first charitable endeavor
under the Arizona Community Foundation's newly established Jerry
Colangelo Center for Sports Philanthropy. ACF has contributed
$25,000 to the TGen fund in support of this important work.
A generous philanthropist and one of the most influential leaders
in business and sports in Arizona and across the nation, Colangelo
has partnered with ACF to encourage athletes to support causes of
personal importance and create a charitable legacy. The
Colangelo Center manages funds supporting sports-related causes and
provides philanthropic giving vehicles and services for
professional and retired athletes looking to make a positive impact
in their communities.
"Sports have provided me most of the wonderful opportunities that
I've enjoyed in my life, and like so many others who have benefited
from this industry, we must finds ways to give back," said Mr.
Colangelo, the former owner of the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona
Diamondbacks.
"Corporate and personal giving through ACF will allow for this,
and I am proud to lend my name to their new Center for Sports
Philanthropy," said Colangelo, who now serves as CEO of USA
Basketball.
The TGen Concussion Research Fund will support a TGen-led
collaboration that began in 2013 with Riddell, Barrow Neurological
Institute, and Arizona State University's Sun Devil football team.
This study is working to find a better way to diagnose concussions
on the field. It compares football player head impact data with
information uncovered through genetic testing of the players. The
research could enable physicians to better identify when a player
is concussed, and also when they might be expected to recover and
get back on the field.
"By establishing the Center for Sports Philanthropy and the TGen
Concussion Research Fund, Jerry Colangelo and the Arizona Community
Foundation have generously created a permanent funding opportunity
that will help find better ways to care for athletes now and in the
future," said Dr. Jeffrey Trent, TGen President and Research
Director.
Dan Arment, President of Riddell, concurred: "As a partner
in this important study led by TGen, we at Riddell hope to answer a
number of key questions that will lead to improved player
protection, inform our continued development of new football helmet
innovations, and further refine player monitoring technology. With
this research, we are on the cusp of identifying a more definitive
way to diagnose concussive injury, which will benefit football
players and athletes in the broader sports universe."
"Sun Devil Athletics is a community asset and we take great pride
in collaborating with these three important local leaders in the
Arizona Community Foundation, TGen and the Barrow Neurological
Institute, as well as industry pioneer Riddell," Vice President for
Sun Devil Athletics Ray Anderson said. "We are always striving to
advance and progress all aspects of collegiate athletics, and the
health and well-being of our student-athletes is at the forefront
of this goal."
"This research is the 'holy grail' of concussion diagnosis," said
Dr. Javier Cardenas, M.D., Director of the Barrow Concussion
Center. "The research combines the greatest expertise in the state,
and is another great example of how Arizona is leading the nation
in concussion care."
The Arizona Community Foundation provides the charitable vehicle
for supporters to make tax-deductible donations to a professionally
managed fund dedicated exclusively to the project. "We are honored
to be TGen's partner in supporting this critical genomic research
that we expect will lead to better medical diagnosis and treatment
of sports-related concussions," said Steve Seleznow, president
& CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation. "As one of TGen's
founding funders, ACF takes great pride in supporting their
ever-expanding research that is improving medicine and healthcare
here and across the globe. This new fund and the work it supports
are yet another clear example of TGen's value and importance in
developing breakthrough solutions to major health problems."
"We are grateful to Jerry Colangelo and the Arizona Community
Foundation for bringing their leadership to our fight against
concussions," said Michael Bassoff, President of the TGen
Foundation. "Both have incredible legacies of helping the community
and we are pleased that they have embraced this cause."
Donors interested in making a charitable donation to the TGen
Concussion Research Fund can give securely online with a credit
card at www.azfoundation.org/TGenFund,
or by mailing a check to ACF, 2201 E. Camelback Road, Suite 405B,
Phoenix, AZ 85016, with a notation of "TGENCO" in the memo line.
Or, call 602-682-2042 for personal assistance.
About the Study
Too often, concussions and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) go
undiagnosed. There is mounting evidence that repeatedly undiagnosed
mTBI can lead to long-term health problems. Unfortunately, there
currently are no tests available to diagnose this damage in real
time.
In May 2013, TGen partnered with Riddell, the leader in football
helmet technology and innovation, Barrow Neurological Institute and
A. T. Still University to embark on a study to advance athlete
concussion detection and treatment. Expanding upon TGen's work in
the area of head trauma, the investigative team led by Drs. Kendall
Van Keuren-Jensen and Matt Huentleman is working to identify
biomarkers associated with documented concussion and sub-clinical
concussion.
In September 2013, ASU and its Sun Devil football program joined
the study. Riddell equipped Sun Devil student-athletes with the
company's proprietary helmet sensors and head impact monitoring
system to collect impact data. Biological information from a
player's genome is merged with real-time head impact data provided
by Riddell's Sideline Response System (SRS). SRS provides
researchers, athletic staff and players with information about the
frequency and severity of head impacts during games and practices.
The Sun Devils' medical team, consisting of athletic trainers and
physicians, did not see the data or interpret any results until the
end of the season, and the student-athletes wearing the Riddell SRS
sensors in their helmets volunteered to partake in the study.
TGen is measuring changes in RNA (DNA's complimentary nucleic
acid), associated with head impacts through samples of blood,
saliva and urine. By using RNA as a sensitive indicator of changing
conditions underlying brain injuries, this data could improve the
ability to detect at-risk patients for future neurological,
cognitive and behavioral complications.
Often, head injuries present no physical changes that can be
viewed using conventional imaging techniques.
However, symptoms experienced by concussed athletes (headaches,
loss of memory, temporary unconsciousness, confusion, drowsiness)
indicate there are functional changes that can last several days.
These symptoms possibly result from structural brain damage - only
detectable at the molecular level - including torn axons and
synaptic connections that prevent transmission of the brain's
electrical impulses.
As part of the study, TGen is working with the Barrow Neurological
Institute, whose B.R.A.I.N.S. (Barrow Resource for Acquired Injury
to the Nervous System) project treats patients age 15 and older who
have sustained a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury. Joining
with Barrow are athletic trainers from A.T. Still University and
SAFE Football, which teaches alternative game-play techniques that
reduce head impacts while increasing competitiveness.
# # #
About Arizona Community Foundation:
Established in 1978, the Arizona Community Foundation is a
statewide family of charitable funds supported by thousands of
Arizonans. With five regional offices serving communities across
Arizona, ACF is among the top 30 community foundations in the
nation with more than
$650 million in trust and endowment assets,
and is certified under the National Standards for U.S. Community
Foundations. Last year, ACF and its affiliates awarded more than
$40 million in grants and scholarship funding to some 3,000
nonprofit organizations, schools and government agencies. More
information is available at www.azfoundation.org.
Media contact:
Megan Brownell
602-682-2023
[email protected]
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 cancer, neurological disorders 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 worldwide, 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
602-343-8704
[email protected]
About Arizona State University:
Arizona State University enrolls more than 73,000 undergraduate,
graduate, online and professional students on its four campuses
configured across the Phoenix metropolitan area. Offering
outstanding resources for research and academics, ASU has developed
a new model for the American research university, creating an
institution that is committed to excellence, access and impact. As
a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to
the public good and assumes major responsibility for the economic,
social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround
it.