U of A Concussion Research Office Bringing in World-Renowned Speaker

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Michael Collins, director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An internationally known expert in sports-related concussion will speak on the University of Arkansas campus May 9 to medical professionals involved in the care of concussion in athletes.

The talk by Michael “Micky” Collins is free and open to the public. It will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, May 9 at the Reynolds Center Auditorium on campus. It is sponsored by the Office for Sport Concussion Research directed by R.J. Elbin, assistant professor of kinesiology; the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; and the UAMS Concussion Clinic, a program of the Schmieding Developmental Center. The two-hour event will also be streamed live, and medical professionals can earn continuing education credit.

Collins directs the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program, which is the first and largest research and clinical program to focus on the diagnosis, evaluation and management of sports-related mild traumatic brain injury in athletes of all levels.

Elbin completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Pittsburgh program before joining the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas.

Elbin said one reason to bring one of his mentors to Fayetteville for the lecture is to provide an important update on the clinical advances that are being made in concussion and to help address some of the fear athletes and parents feel about the injury, fear that is largely driven by the media, not science.

“Dr. Collins is a world-renowned leader in clinical assessment and management of concussion,” Elbin said. “He has advanced the field in the best practices for assessment and now treatment of concussion.”

Collins has been instrumental in the development of numerous concussion management programs at the youth sports level nationwide. He has become a national leader in teaching and implementing the proper use of baseline and post-injury neuro-cognitive testing as a tool to help determine injury severity and recovery for safe return to play for young athletes. In addition to training hundreds of physicians and athletic trainers in the diagnosis and management of sports-related concussion, he was the co-lead author of the Centers for Disease Control’s “Concussion Tool Kit for Physicians,” which has been disseminated nationwide to several physician subspecialties as an education standard regarding concussion management.

Collins has been a lead author on several major groundbreaking studies of high school and college athletes published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Neurosurgery, American Journal of Sports Medicine, and Pediatrics, and an author on more than 70 peer-reviewed research articles for other prestigious medical journals.

Collins led a group of 35 leading U.S. concussion clinicians and researchers, including Elbin, who met last September to discuss best treatment approaches for concussion. A paper about the consensus recommendations reached by the group is expected to be published soon.

Elbin conducts research in the assessment, management and treatment of concussion, some in collaboration with the Pittsburgh facility. His latest research is investigating the factors that influence concussion recovery.

“What we are learning is that the recovery time is longer than once thought,” Elbin said. “We used to think concussion recovery typically took seven to 10 days. With new assessments and measurements, we know that recovery is more likely to take three to four weeks and, for some athletes, even longer.”

Elbin is trying to identify factors that affect recovery time.

“The main goal of my research is to identify which athletes on are track for a prolonged recovery and intervene sooner rather than later with targeted treatment approaches to hopefully decrease recovery time,” he said.

Elbin will take part in a panel discussion about traumatic brain injury and a live call-in show to be broadcast by the Arkansas Educational Television Network at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 7, following the airing of a documentary about concussion. He was not involved in the production of the documentary.

About the Office for Sport Concussion Research: The University of Arkansas Office for Sport Concussion Research was established in 2014 with the mission of improving, through education, research, and outreach initiatives, the standard of care for athletes with sport-related concussion. Under the direction of R.J. Elbin, assistant professor in the exercise science program, the Office for Sport Concussion Research is establishing strategic partnerships with local and regional youth sports organizations, high school, and other academic and medical institutions across the state of Arkansas as well as throughout the country.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.