2013 NCAA Convention

Advances in Understanding and Treating Sport-Related Concussion 

The problem of concussion in sport continues to generate concern regarding diagnoses, the return of concussed athletes to practice and play, the social, emotional and educational effects on student-athletes, and the long-term health consequences of repetitive insults to the brain. This session will review the epidemiology of concussion in sport and common scenarios that produce concussions, including general biomechanics and pathophysiological effects in the brain. This knowledge will assist in understanding the most recent studies that have uncovered a relationship between repetitive brain insults and chronic changes in the brain that cause emotional pathology and dementing illness. The session will guide participants in understanding the rationale for the baseline methodology for preseason testing of student-athletes, and how these and post-trauma assessments can reveal readiness for return to play.

Speakers:

Ruben Echemendia, Director, National Hockey League Neuropsychological Testing Program

Ruben Echemendia is the director of the National Hockey League’s Neuropsychological Testing Program and chair of the NHL’s Concussion Working Group.  He is also chair of Major League Soccer’s concussion program and is the consulting clinical neuropsychologist to the U.S. Soccer Federation and the U.S. Soccer national teams. He is the founder of the Penn State University Concussion Program and the consulting neuropsychologist to Princeton University’s department of athletic medicine.

Echemendia also serves as a consultant to numerous recreational, high school, college and professional sports teams.  He serves on the US Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee, the Boxing and Martial Arts Committee of the American College of Sports Medicine and the U.S. Soccer Medical Advisory Committee. He has served as a consultant to the NCAA, the U.S. Defense Veterans’ Brain Injury Center and other national organizations.

Echemendia has had extensive clinical and research experience with sports-related concussions and has spoken internationally on issues related to traumatic brain injury in sports.  He is currently in independent practice after having spent 18 years on the clinical psychology faculty of Pennsylvania State University, where he was director of the psychological clinic.

Echemendia is a past president of the National Academy of Neuropsychology and a Fellow of both the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the American Psychological Association.  He is currently president of the Sports Neuropsychology Society and an adjunct associate professor of psychology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  Echemendia has published extensively in the area of sports neuropsychology and has been a featured guest on several television and radio programs.

Dave Klossner, Director of Health and Safety, NCAA

David Klossner has been with the NCAA for 10 years, currently serves as director of health and safety and is a national office liaison to the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, which is the Association-wide committee charged with providing leadership on health and safety issues for the membership.

He also serves as the NCAA representative to committees for the National Federation of State High School Associations, National Athletic Trainers’ Association, US Lacrosse and USA Baseball, and as a board member for the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.  Klossner frequently presents on health and safety topics relevant to NCAA policy at national policy meetings and those related to sports medicine, and to NCAA member conferences.

Before working at the NCAA, Klossner was a faculty member of DePauw University and the University of South Florida while holding administrative duties as the director of athletic training education for both institutions.  He has worked clinically as a certified athletic trainer providing athlete health care to high school, collegiate and professional athletes.

Klossner received his bachelor’s degree and Master of Science at Indiana University, Bloomington, and his Ph.D. from Ohio University.

Margot Putukian, Director of Athletic Medicine and Head Team Physician, Princeton University

Margot Putukian received her B.S. in biology from Yale University and her M.D. from Boston University.  She completed her training in primary care internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York, and her fellowship in sports medicine at Michigan State University.  Putukian worked as a team physician and director of primary care sports medicine at Pennsylvania State University for almost 11 years before starting her current position in January 2004 as the director of athletic medicine and head team physician for Princeton University.

Putukian is a charter member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, for which she served as president in 2004-05.  She served on the Board of Trustees for the American College of Sports Medicine, completing her term in 2010.  Putukian served on the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports, and is a team physician for US Soccer and head team physician for the U.S. men’s lacrosse team.

Putukian has authored several chapters, edited three books, and written or co-written several articles, including several Team Physician Consensus Statements.  She is involved in several research projects in sports-related concussion.  She chairs the US Lacrosse Sports Science and Safety Committee, and also currently serves on the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee.

Frank M. Webbe, Professor of Psychology and Faculty Athletics Representative, Florida Institute of Technology

Frank Webbe earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Florida and was on the faculty of the University of Mississippi before joining the faculty of Florida Institute of Technology.  Formerly dean of the School of Psychology, he currently is professor of psychology and research director of the East Central Florida Memory Disorder Clinic, and director of the Florida Tech athletics concussion management program.

Webbe is past president of the Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA).  He is a Fellow of the APA and the National Academy of Neuropsychology, is treasurer of the NAN Foundation Board of Trustees, and chair-elect of the Technology Professional Interest Area of the International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment.

Webbe has studied issues in sports-related concussion and effects of repetitive head trauma in sports for many years and published widely in this area.  He is author of the Handbook of Sport Neuropsychology, published recently by Springer Publishing.

Florida Tech’s NCAA faculty athletics representative for many years, Webbe is president-elect of the Faculty Athletics Representatives Association.