Newswise — LEAWOOD, Kan. - Daniel Herman, MD, PhD, is the recipient of the 2014 AMSSM Foundation-ACSM Foundation Clinical Research Grant for his research titled “Assessment of Neuromuscular Performance Deficits and Recovery after Concussion: Implications for Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk.” While recent studies suggest that poor neurocognitive performance associated with a concussion may increase the risk of musculoskeletal injury, the magnitude and duration of impaired neuromuscular performance is unknown. Dr. Herman will study how these two factors affect musculoskeletal injury risk in athletes after return to play, with the overall objective of enhancing injury prevention and rehabilitation.

In the grant program’s second year, a joint committee, comprised of members from the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), selected Dr. Herman’s proposal to receive a $20,000 award. The primary purpose of the program is to foster original scientific investigations and secondarily, to advance the development of the principal investigator’s research education by requiring that a portion of the funds to be applied to meet this goal.

“The AMSSMF-ACSMF Clinical Research Grant Review Committee was pleased to fund a research study that will investigate a possible increased risk of musculoskeletal injury following a sports concussion,” said Suzanne Hecht, MD, who chaired the review committee and is past chair of the AMSSM Research Committee.

Dr. Hecht added, “This could have important implications for the management of sports concussions in the future." Dr. Herman is an assistant professor of the divisions of physical medicine and rehabilitation, sports medicine and research in the department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation at the University of Florida in Gainsville, Fla.

The review committee sought research proposals that investigate research questions within the broad discipline of sports medicine. The criteria required proposals to be led by physicians who are members of both AMSSM and ACSM.

About AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of 2,500 sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org

About ACSM: The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world. More than 50,000 international, national and regional members and certified professionals are dedicated to advancing and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical applications of exercise science and sports medicine. The American College of Sports Medicine supports the 10 Criteria for Responsible Health Reporting as articulated by www.HealthNewsReview.org. Website: www.acsm.org.

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