February 5, 2016

concussion: a blockbuster issue?

Next week the UK will see the launch of Concussion, a Hollywood blockbuster starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin, which tells the true story of how the sports-related brain trauma CTE was first discovered in former NFL players.

This weekend, the Six Nations will kick off almost a year to the day after George North, the Welsh winger, was twice knocked unconscious in his side’s opening match against England but was controversially allowed to continue playing. Unlike America, the UK is only now waking up to the potential long-term consequences of concussion in contact sports.

The SMC, together with The Drake Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to furthering scientific understanding of concussion in sports, invited leading experts from the UK and America – including one whose research helped uncover the truth about CTE and who is portrayed by Alec Baldwin in the forthcoming film – to brief journalists on the story behind the movie, the current research taking place in the UK, and to answer questions such as:

• Should we be worried about the long-term consequences of head collisions in sports such as rugby and football?
• What is being done to assess the potential impact of head injuries in UK sport?
• Are official guidelines offering players enough protection?

Speakers:

Julian Bailes, MD, Co-Director of the NorthShore Neurological Institute, Evanston, IL, USA (portrayed in the film by Alec Baldwyn)

Prof. John Hardy, FRS Professor of Neuroscience, UCL

Prof. Huw Morris, Professor of Clinical Neuroscience, UCL

Dr. Velicia Bachtiar, Chief Scientific Officer, The Drake Foundation