NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The Translational Genomics Research Institute will use $25,000 in new funding to continue research into football-related concussions.
The Arizona Community Foundation today announced the funding to TGen as the first charitable endeavor under the foundation's new Jerry Colangelo Center for Sports Philanthropy. TGen will use the funding to continue work started in 2013 with sports equipment firm Riddell, Barrow Neurological Institute, and Arizona State University's football team to improve the diagnosis of concussions on the football field.
The study compares head impact data with information gleaned from genetic testing of ASU's football players, and TGen is measuring changes in RNA associated with head impacts with the goal of detecting patients who may be at risk for future neurological, cognitive, and behavioral complications.
The research, TGen said, may help physicians better identify when a player has a concussion and when they may be able to resume playing.