NFL HEALTH AND SAFETY UPDATE -- JAN. 22, 2014
NFL, GE TO ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF HEAD HEALTH CHALLENGE
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt will announce the round one winners of the Head Health Challenge on Thursday.
At the announcement event, which will be held at the NFL office in New York, Sue Siegel, CEO, GE Ventures & healthymagination GE, will conduct a panel discussion with some of the winners about the need for brain research and its impact on healthcare, sports and society in general.
Last March, GE and the NFL announced the Head Health Initiative, a four-year, $60-million collaboration to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury. The goal of the research and innovation program, guided by healthcare experts, is to find real solutions quickly and improve the safety of athletes, members of the military and society overall.
The initiative includes a four-year, $40-million research and development program to evaluate and develop next generation imaging technologies to improve diagnosis and allow for targeting treatment therapy for patients with mild traumatic brain injury. In addition, the NFL, GE and Under Armour launched a two-year open innovation challenge to invest up to $20 million in research and technology to better understand, diagnose and protect against mild traumatic brain injury.
QUEEN LATIFAH SHOW TAPES EPISODE ON HEADS UP FOOTBALL
Heads Up Football was featured on "The Queen Latifah Show" this week as Commissioner Goodell, former player and current Heads Up Football Ambassador LaVar Arrington, Northshore University HealthSystem Neuropsychologist Dr. Elizabeth Pieroth and representatives from USA Football joined Queen Latifah to discuss youth sports safety, demonstrate proper tackling and give parents strategies to help kids stay safe. The show will air on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Visit QueenLatifah.com for more.
INDIANA BILL CALLS FOR CONCUSSION TRAINING FOR HIGH SCHOOL COACHES
Indiana Senator Travis Holdman has authored a bill that would require high school football coaches to take player safety and concussion training courses every two years. The bill would also parallel Washington state's law requiring football players to wait 24 hours before returning to play after a concussion, the eighth state to do so.
Indiana is the first state to add the coaches' training courses to the bill. Currently the language requires only high school football coaches to take the courses, but Holdman hopes to expand to soccer programs in the future.
For the full Indianapolis Business Journal story, click here.
