Many sports bodies, player associations, medical researchers and academics are involved in research into acquired brain injury and sport. As well as National Governing Bodies, domestically this includes the UK Dementia Research Institute (UKDRI), Imperial College, Nottingham and Glasgow Universities, the Medical Research Council and the Drake Foundation as well as internationally the Mayo Clinic, the American National Football League (NFL) and World Rugby.
Research is happening on an ongoing basis – for example the Premier League announced two research studies to inform heading in training guidelines in March 2021 to identify the forces involved in heading footballs. The outcome of these studies may help inform guidelines for heading in training at professional and adult football levels.
The first study is being carried out with Sports & Wellbeing Analytics, who operate their PROTECHT system (see technology section below) where mouthguards will collect data to show how the force and frequency of impacts affect the brain and body. The second study is being conducted in partnership with Second Spectrum, the official tracking and analytics provider for the Premier League. This study will compare match-tracking data from the 2019/20 season with results from the mouthguard study. Further research is being done in football3 and rugby union.
Podium Analytics, a charity that seeks to significantly reduce the incidence and long-term impact of injury in sport, announced the establishment of an Institute of Sports Medicine and Technology in partnership with Oxford University in September 2021 (see Action 1 below). The new Institute aims to bring together world-class academics to drive a clearer understanding of the impact, incidence, cause and effect of injury.





