UF Health welcomes Team USA medical personnel to talk about concussion and TBI

GAINESVILLE — As Team USA competes against the world in Paris this summer, it’s unlikely any broadcaster will discuss how well athletes sleep. It might be a good idea to start.

Research shows that an athlete who gets adequate sleep can shave fractions of a second off a meet time. Athletes with a previous concussion might suffer lingering sleep impacts for months.

“Tenths of a second can be the difference between being on the podium and not being on the podium,” said Michael S. Jaffee, M.D., chair of the UF College of Medicine’s department of neurology and director of the UF BRAIN Center.

That is one of the lessons provided by Jaffee and a UF Health multidisciplinary traumatic brain injury and concussion team during a four-day visit that ended May 3 by health care personnel from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee honing their skills on leading-edge brain injury research and treatment.

The effort is part of UF Health’s two-year partnership with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. UF Health provides services for Team USA athletes and works with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee on research and professional collaboration as one of just three of its national health care partners. Five additional regional health care providers also work with Team USA.

UF Health has increasingly become an essential stop for athletes, sports teams, and physicians seeking the latest research and evidence-based concussion treatment, TBI, and related topics, like sleep.

UF Health’s expertise has led to invitations to provide education from sports as diverse as Major League Baseball and NASCAR. UF Health boasts one of the few sports neurology fellowship programs in the nation and has renowned experts in the brain injury field, including Jaffee.

Jaffee’s team and the UF BRAIN Center, or Brain Injury, Rehabilitation, and Neuroresilience Center, organized and hosted the visit with activities at five UF Health clinics associated with concussion care. The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee team also met a variety of UF Health professionals involved with all aspects of concussion care.

“What we’re trying to do is bring Team USA personnel evidence-based, effective techniques that they can take back and use with their athletes,” Jaffee said, “It’s really focused on challenging cases of concussion or head injury and persistent symptoms in those who just aren’t getting any better.

“It’s a real honor to have them here,” he added. “It’s something that is reflective of the entire team at UF. It’s been a great opportunity, as we have had a chance to learn from each other, and I think it makes us all even better providers.”

About eight U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Medical Center practitioners, including a physician assistant, athletic trainer, physical and manual therapists, a chiropractor, and a mental health performance coach, attended lectures twice daily on brain injury and other topics. They also shadowed UF Health physicians and therapists treating patients.

“UF Health is a great partner because of the clinical expertise,” said Jordan Knowlton-Key, D.C., a chiropractic sports physician for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. “It’s been phenomenal working with the UF clinicians to do a deep dive on head injuries and associated conditions, and how to manage these complex conditions.”

Each visitor received a copy of the American Academy of Neurology’s official book on concussion management, “Navigating the Challenges of Concussion,” from its “Brain and Life” book series. Jaffee is the lead author, and the curriculum of last week’s visit was built around the book.

Another UF Health provider at the event, neuropsychologist Aliyah Snyder, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions, knows concussion all too well.

Snyder was a competitive skeleton athlete, a winter sport in which athletes lie flat, headfirst on a sled, and hurtle down an ice chute at speeds of more than 70 mph. She suffered several concussions and medically retired from the sport, inspiring her to a career helping others deal with concussions.

“The subject is kind of personally relevant experience to me,” she said. “I’ve been working in this space for a long time as a coach, as a provider, as an athlete myself. And it’s just such a great opportunity to continue to be part of that community, to give back to programs that I think inspire kids.”