Sports have never been safer, and improved awareness of concussion care is one reason why. This month's Short Talks from the Hill features R.J. Elbin, an associate professor of exercise science and the director of the office for Sports Concussion Research in the College of Education and Health Professions.

Elbin's research focuses on 1) examining the spectrum of effects from sport-related concussion in youth and adolescents, 2) identifying factors that influence risk and recovery from sport-related concussion and 3) documenting best practices for the clinical assessment, management and treatment of concussion.

He recently co-authored a paper examining an emerging standard of concussion care that is more targeted to the individual and appears to be producing better long-term results, which he discusses in the conversation.

"In the clinical setting, there's lots of little taglines, and one of them is 'once you've seen one concussion, you've seen one concussion,'" Elbin says in the interview. "Everyone's different. We have a lot of different personality characteristics, different health history characteristics, and those play a role in the treatment of this injury. It also plays a role in the length of recovery and the diagnosis of this injury. So we've come a long way from grading concussions to now taking all of this information about the individual."

You can listen to Elbin's podcast by clicking on the link above or by visiting the home of research and economic development news at the U of A.

And remember, you can now listen to Short Talks programming wherever you get your podcasts. Previous podcasts can be found at the link above or by visiting arkansasresearch.uark.edu.

Thank you for listening!