Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a contributing factor in 30% of all injury deaths. The IPRC develops and tests interventions to improve prevention and management of TBIs. Our research program focuses on sports-related TBIs.
Over the past two decades, IPRC Investigators and colleagues in UNC’s Matthew Gfeller Sports-Related TBI Center, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, have conducted numerous studies that have led to key policy changes, including passage of the 2011 Gfeller-Waller Concussion Awareness Act in North Carolina and changes to the kick-off distance in football to lessen impacts on special teams. This formative work was published in the Journal of American Medical Association (Guskiewicz et al, 2003), the Annals of Biomedical Engineering (Ocjewa et al, 2013), Pediatrics (Mihalik et al, 2010), and Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation (Register-Mihalik, 2011).
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Aliza Nedimyer is a second year doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Program of Human Movement Science. She graduated from Ithaca College in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Athletic Training. In May of 2017, she received her Master of Arts in Exercise and Sport Science with a concentration in Athletic Training from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Following completion of her Master’s degree, Aliza worked as a Project Coordinator and Research Assistant in the Matthew Gfeller Sport Related Traumatic Brain Injury Center and the Injury Prevention Research Center at UNC Chapel Hill. Her research interests include injury prevention and education surrounding sport safety, particularly related to concussion and emergency care.
Several TBI research studies jointly conducted by UNC’s IPRC and the Matthew Gfeller Center involved data collection in local area schools. Research clinicians from the Gfeller Center provide clinical support and scientific expertise to the athletic trainers in these schools and assist with collecting pre-season baseline measures. In keeping with our Center’s commitment to engaged scholarship and equity in research, we utilize research designs that maximize the benefits to the schools and the athlete-participants.
