On Friday, the New York Times published an investigation revealing that more than 100 diagnosed concussions were omitted from research papers that the NFL has until now relied on as evidence to back the claim that brain injuries do not cause long-term harm to its players.
It is not the first time concussions have made headlines. Hollywood joined the conversation late last year with the film “Concussion,” which starred Will Smith as the forensic pathologist who diagnosed a degenerative brain disease in football players.
In light of new developments related to traumatic brain injury and with March being Brain Injury Awareness Month, Virginia Commonwealth University will host a Twitter chat with traumatic brain injury expert Alex Valadka, M.D., on March 30. Valadka, who is the chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the VCU School of Medicine, has served as initiating investigator on a $33.7 million Department of Defense research consortium on traumatic brain injury. He is author and co-author of more than seven dozen scientific papers and was co-editor of the textbook “Neurotrama: Evidence-Based Answers to Common Questions.”
Everyone is invited to sign into their Twitter accounts and join the conversation to have their questions answered by Valadka from noon to 1 p.m.on March 30. Just remember to use the hashtag #VCUHealthChat when posting questions and comments.
Questions can be submitted in advance via Twitter using #VCUHealthChat and @VCUHealth on Twitter.