Presentation

NSCA 40th Annual National Conference

Courteney Benjamin MS, CSCS

Associate Director of Communication and Assistant Director of Athlete Performance and Safety

Members of KSI had the opportunity to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the 40th annual National Strength and Conditioning Conference
where strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, sport scientists, sport nutritionists, and health enthusiasts gathered to present, network, and honor certain outstanding members.

 

We were fortunate to attend a lecture given by this year’s Sport Scientists of the Year, Shawn M, Arent, and Dave DiFabio from Polar, whom we had the opportunity to work with in the past. They discussed the use of wearable technology and how coaches and sport scientists should start thinking about applying the knowledge we gather from this data to practice.

Ryan Curtis, Yasuki Sekiguchi, and I presented some of the recent research findings from the KSI. I presented a poster titled, “Analysis of Women’s Cross Country Lab Tests Results and Training Over the Course of a Competitive Fall Season” on Thursday (7/13/17). I examined the change in lactate testing, VO2 max and training of the UCONN Women’s Cross Country team during their fall season. The major finding of this study was the vOBLA (velocity at onset of blood lactate) was significantly higher during the middle of the season while VO2 max did not change throughout the season. During my presentation, I was very excited to reconnect with two of my former colleagues from Florida State University. Daniel Shaefer was the former director of strength and conditioning at FSU and is now working on is PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jon Jost was the former FSU director of strength and conditioning and recently accepted a position with Gatorade. I am hopeful that we will get an opportunity to collaborate on future research. I also had the fortune to meet Kristen Holmes-Winn, from WHOOP, who funded the research Ryan and I presented at this conference.

 

Yasuki Sekiguchi presented a poster titled “Heartrate Variability between Starters and Nonstarters throughout a Collegiate Soccer Season.” During this study, HRV and training load metrics were monitored over the course of D1
college soccer season. The relationship between these variables were examined for all players, starters, and nonstarters. The major finding of this research was that acute:chronic training load ratio might be used to explain the changes in HRV over the course of a Division 1 male soccer team

Ryan Curtis did an oral presentation on Saturday (7/15/17) titled “Relationship between Sleep, Training Load and Fitness in Collegiate Soccer.” Overall this study illustrated that sleep quality may be more sensitive to increased training load than sleep quantity. Collegiate athletes with increased training loads have increased light sleep but not REM sleep or overall sleep duration.

Outside of the conference, we had a fantastic time exploring the Las Vegas strip and the beautiful hotel hosting us and the conference, Paris Las Vegas. I am extremely thankful to the NSCA and KSI for the opportunity to collaborate and learn from others in the field while making memories that will last a lifetime. I look forward to attending this event next year and present the results from our upcoming projects.

 

6th International Conference on the Physiology and Pharmacology of Temperature Regulation

By: William M. Adams, PhD, ATC, Vice President of Sport Safety

 

This past week (December 5-9th), I had the pleasure of representing KSI at the 6th International Conference on the Physiology and Pharmacology of Temperature Regulation. This conference is a biannual conference held in different locations around the world that brings together the world’s leading thermal physiologists to present on topics from a basic (cellular and molecular) level of thermal physiology to clinical and applied applications of that research. This year’s conference was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the patron city of Saint George, which is located in the central part of Slovenia.

 

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The meeting started with an in depth discussion on the association of climate change on health. A European-based project, HEAT-SHIELD, was introduced to the audience which is a group tasked with developing guidelines and policies to handle heat stress from various aspects associated with climate change. The development of a well-rounded set of guidelines is needed to address this issue, especially as Europe is seeing the effects of increasing environmental conditions and a large migration of persons from other areas in the world, which when coupled together may cause downstream detrimental effects on health as a whole.

The conference continued with various symposiums, oral presentations and poster presentations on topics related to inflammation and the thermal response, fever, metabolic influences on thermal physiology, and the influence of exercise on thermal physiology. I had the pleasure of presenting some data that I collected examining the influence of hydration on body temperature and heart rate responses during repeated bouts of exercise in the heat. The talk was well received and it prompted some great discussion amongst other physiologists.

 

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It was great being able to meet new friends, connect with others and to discuss future collaborative work with some excellent researchers. The opportunity to attend this conference and to see the beautiful city of Ljubljana was an extremely rewarding experience and I would encourage anyone that does research in this area to attend the 2018 Conference in Split, Croatia.

 

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Marine Corps Marathon Weekend

By Gabrielle Giersch, MS, Assistant Director of Education, Assistant Director of Athlete Performance and Safety

 

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KSI in the White House

 

Thursday October 27th through Sunday October 30th a group of KSI staff traveled to Washington D.C. to present at the American Medical Athletic Association’s 25th Annual Sports Medicine Symposium and worked in the medical tent at the 42nd Marine Corps Marathon (MCM). While in D.C., the KSI staff got to explore the city, tour the White House, enjoy some of the museums on Constitution Avenue, visit Arlington National Cemetery and view the changing of the guards.

 

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Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

 

We had a great showing at the American Medical Athletic Association 25th Annual Sports Medicine Symposium at the Marine Corps Marathon at Georgetown University Friday October 28th. Brendon McDermott Ph.D., ATC, alumnus of University Connecticut and also one of KSI’s medical and science advisory board member, and his colleague, Cory Butts M.S., traveled from University of Arkansas and presented Muscle Damage and Renal Function in Athletes with Physiological and Environmental Stress. From KSI, Luke Belval, M.S., ATC, CSCS, presented Changing Guidelines on Exertional Heat Stroke Care: Point of Care to Transport to the ER, and Douglas Casa Ph.D. presented Policy Changes Save Lives in all Levels of Sport: New Evidence and Successes. All three of these presentations helped to illustrate the important role of athletic trainers and medical staff at races, and show successes that KSI has had in treating exrtional heat strokes and changing policies to reduce the prevalence of sudden death in sport.

On Saturday, the staff had a “play day” in D.C. that consisted of visiting museums and playing Escape the Room D.C. Both KSI teams escaped (photo below) with the better team just beating the losing team by a few minutes!

 

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On Sunday the real fun began. The staff was up bright and early to make it to Aid Station #9 at mile marker 21 of the MCM! We evaluated and treated several athletes who were experiencing exercise associated muscle cramps and dehydration. Our Medical Advisor, Dr. John Jardine also played a critical role in treating exertional heat stroke patients.

 

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MCM KSI Medical Tent

 

The annual trip to D.C./MCM is a great way for the staff to learn, use their expertise, and bond.

2016 American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting

By Samantha Scarneo, MS, ATC, Director of Sport Safety

ACSM 2016

As conference season is upon us, KSI kicked off the summer first attending the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Annual Meeting. This year’s ACSM annual meeting was held in Boston, MA and proved to be one of the most special conferences for KSI. KSI’s CEO, Dr. Douglas Casa was honored with the opportunity to give one of the President’s Lectures on Thursday morning of the conference. Dr. Casa’s presentation began with his personal story of his own heat stroke and how that grew to his passion for saving lives in the realm of exertional heat stroke and other causes sudden death in sport and physical activity. The presentation also included a detailed timeline of he inception of KSI and the work that KSI is doing to this day.  Change takes time, dedication, and perseverance; Dr. Casa certainly made that known to those in attendance.

Over the course of several years, KSI has been able to assist over 30 states in their quest to make policy changes to make sport safer at all levels of competition. Heat acclimatization, environmental conditions, AED policies, coaching education, and conditioning sessions were some of the policy change topics presented upon. However, despite the positive changes, we have observed an increase in non-traumatic deaths over the past few years. Dr. Casa stressed, that although important changes have been made, there is still work to be done to identify why this trend is occurring and how we can mitigate these deaths. The presentation was well received to a ballroom full of attendees. Congratulations to Dr. Casa on this milestone achievement!

The conference also included presentations by other KSI staff:

  • William Adams, PhD, ATC – Thirst As A Marker of Hydration Status During an After Exercise in the heat
  • Lesley Vandermark, PhD, ATC– Beverage Content Influences Voluntary Fluid Intake During Exercise: A Systematic Review
  • Yuri Hosokawa, MAT, ATC – Assessing Warm Weather Race Preparedness Using the Heat Stress Score
  • Samantha Scarneo, MS, ATC – Lower Extremity Injury Risk in Youth Female Basketball Athletes with and without a History of Concussion

Annual meetings allow professionals to re-connect with old colleagues, make new relationships and build upon their knowledge base by attending the several sessions. ACSM has always been an educational event that each of us look forward to every year, and this year was no different. We thank all the presenters at the meeting along with the staff who were able to put on such a great event. It was great to see all of our former colleagues and friends and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Upcoming Scientific Presentations

By Sarah Attanasio, Assistant Director of Research

Upcoming Presentations

Come visit and engage with the KSI staff members at the upcoming annual NATA and ACSM Conferences. Find out which members are presenting, where and about what can you expect to learn from each presentation below.

 

The American College of Sports Medicine 63rd Annual Meeting- May 31- June 4th 2016- Boston MA

 

William Adams, PhD, ATC– Thematic Poster

“Thirst as a Marker of Hydration Status During and After Exercise in the Heat”

Date: Wednesday, 6/1; 1:00-3:00pm

 

Yuri Hosokawa, MAT, ATC– Poster Presentation

“Assessing Warm Weather Race Preparedness Using the Heat Stress Score”

Date: Thursday, 6/2; 2-3:30pm

 

Lesley Vandermark, PhD, ATC, EMT, PES– Poster Presentation

“Beverage Content Influences Voluntary Fluid Intake During Exercise: A Systematic Review”

Date: Thursday, 6/2; 2-3:30pm

 

Douglas Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA– President’s Lecture

“Preventing Sudden Death in Sports and Physical Activity: The Struggles (and Successes) to Implement Evidence into Clinical Practice”

Date: Thursday, 6/2; 10:30- 11:20am

 

Douglas Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA– Symposium

“Preventing, Recognizing, and Treating Exertional Heat Stroke at Endurance Events”

Date: Thursday, 6/2; 9:20-9:45am

 

Samantha Scarneo, MS, ATC– Free Communication/Slide

“Lower Extremity Injury Risk in Youth Female Basketball Athletes with and without a History of Concussion”

Date: Friday, 6/3; 1:00-3:00pm

 

The National Athletic Trainers’ Association 67th Clinical Symposia and Expo- June 22-25th 2016- Baltimore MD

 

William Adams,  PhD, ATC– Minicourse

“Developing and Implementing Evidence-Based Best Practice and Procedure for the Prevention of Sudden Death in Sport”

Date: Wednesday 6/22; 5:15-6:15pm

 

Lesley Vandermark, PhD, ATC, EMT, PES– Free Communication Oral Presentation

“Investigation of Provisional Medical Care in the Public Secondary School Setting”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 9:15-10:15am

 

Rachel Vanscoy, MS, ATC– Poster Presentation

“Does The Shortened Environmental Symptoms Questionnaire Accurately Represent Physiological Adaptations Following a 10 Day Heat Acclimation Protocol?”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 11:15-12:00pm

 

Rachel Katch, MS, ATC– Poster Presentation

“Use of the Heat Stress Score to Predict Preparedness to Run in an Outdoor, Warm Weather Race”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 11:30-1:15pm

 

William Adams, PhD, ATC– Poster Presentation

“Policy Changes Reduce Exertional Sickling Related Deaths in Division I Collegiate Football Players”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 11:30-1:15pm

 

Yuri Hosokawa, MAT, ATC– Poster Presentation

“Tarp-Assisted Cooling is an Effective Method of Whole Body Cooling in Hyperthermic Individuals”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 11:30-1:15pm

 

Luke Belval, MS, ATC, CSCS– Poster Presentation

“Efficacy of a Novel Cooling Vest Following Exercise-Induced Hyperthermia”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 11:30-1:15pm

 

Sarah Attanasio, BS– Poster Presentation

“Occurrence of Exertional Heat Stroke in High School Football Athletes Before and After Implementation of Evidence-Based Heat Acclimatization Guidelines”

Date: Thursday 6/23; 11:30-1:15pm

 

Yuri Hosokawa, MAT, ATC– Feature Presentation

“Malignant Hyperthermia in Physically Active Populations”

Date: Thursday, 6/23; 1:30- 3:30pm

 

Alicia Pike, MS, ATC– Oral presentation

“Private Secondary Schools Use Various Individuals When Providing Medical Coverage”

Date: Friday, 6/24; 10-10:15am

 

Rebecca Stearns PhD, ATC– Special Topic

“Protein’s Effectiveness As An Ingredient in Hydration Beverages”

Date: Saturday 6/25; 10:45-11:45am