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- Posted Friday August 29, 2014
Chandler Arizona school is first in new effort to fund TGen-led sports concussion study
Brisas Elementary School is the first organization to participate in Get Your Jersey On
PHOENIX, Ariz. - Aug. 29, 2014 - Kyrene de las
Brisas Elementary School students and teachers will wear their
favorite sports team jersey or t-shirt to class today, the first
organization to participate in "Get Your Jersey On," a fun way to
help promote and fund concussion research at the Translational
Genomics Research Institute (TGen).
The Chandler school is the first of what is expected to be many
organizations this fall that will help fund TGen's collaboration
with the Arizona State University Sun Devil football team to help
find new ways to protect athletes from serious injuries caused by
head trauma.
"Our school is just a few miles south of ASU, and what better -
and fun - way to show our support for the teams and athletes than
to help fund a program that will ultimately help protect their
health.Concussions affect not just athletes, but people of
all ages.We are proud to partner with TGen to help raise the
awareness of this important research," said Dino Katsiris,
Assistant Principal at Kyrene de las Brisas Elementary
School.
Teachers and parents of students participating in "Get Your Jersey
On" are encouraged to make small donations of $5 or $10 to TGen. If
you would like your organization to participate, contact Dean
Ballard, Assistant Director of Development for the non-profit TGen
Foundation, at [email protected], or
602-343-8543.
Individuals may donate at: https://www.tgenfoundation.org/netcommunity/donate.
Click drop down box to: Concussion Research.
Student-athletes at ASU wear football helmets made by Riddell, a
leader in sports helmet technology, with sensors that record the
number, direction and intensity of impacts during games and
practices.
TGen researchers, working with Barrow Neurological Institute and
A.T. Still University, are attempting to connect data about the
helmet impacts with biological changes that could be detected in
the players' blood, urine or saliva samples.
The goal is to discover a biomarker - some change in the
student-athlete's genetic makeup - that would objectively indicate
when they are too injured to continue playing, and when they are
fit enough to return to the game.
Representatives from the Sun Devil medical team and TGen will
collect the molecular samples from the participating athletes, all
of whom volunteered to partake in the study.
"It is so exciting to have the children of Kyrene de las Brisas
Elementary School join us in this important work," said Michael
Bassoff, President of the TGen Foundation. "We welcome the
participation of Brisas Elementary School and other businesses and
organizations who want to turn their love of sports into a way to
help protect the athletes they admire."
For more information about the TGen-led concussion study, please
visit tgen.org.
# # #
About TGen
Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a Phoenix,
Arizona-based non-profit organization dedicated to conducting
groundbreaking research with life changing results. TGen is focused
on helping patients with cancer, neurological disorders and
diabetes, through cutting edge translational research (the process
of rapidly moving research towards patient benefit). TGen
physicians and scientists work to unravel the genetic components of
both common and rare complex diseases in adults and children.
Working with collaborators in the scientific and medical
communities literally worldwide, TGen makes a substantial
contribution to help our patients through efficiency and
effectiveness of the translational process. For more information,
visit:www.tgen.org.
Press Contact:
Steve Yozwiak
TGen Senior Science Writer
602-343-8704
[email protected]
