In June 2015, the NBA and GE Healthcare launched the NBA & GE Healthcare Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Collaboration, a strategic partnership aimed at engaging leading clinical researchers who have demonstrated excellence in orthopedics, sports medicine, radiology, and related disciplines. The NBA, GE Healthcare, and additional partners will provide funding for research that supports the mission of the collaboration.
The mission is to address high-priority clinical questions regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of acute and overuse injuries among NBA athletes, and to apply such findings to basketball players and the general population.
A series of Calls for Proposals (CFP) will be consecutively released by the NBA & GE Healthcare Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Collaboration, with each CFP strategically focused on a class of acute or overuse injuries affecting NBA athletes. The first CFP was released in 2015 and focused on the natural history, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of tendinopathy. To learn more about the Tendinopathy CFP and awardees, and to register for notifications of upcoming CFP releases, please visit the NBA & GEHC collaboration CFP website.
MYOTENDINOUS INJURIES CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Myotendinous injuries are common issues in competitive athletes and can impair performance, limit playing time, and disrupt a career. Such injuries are often referred to as “muscle strains, tears, ruptures, or pulls.” Prevention programs for some specific myotendinous injuries have been described for varying levels of play; however, there is little evidence supporting many of these strategies. When an acute muscle injury occurs, the best techniques for clinical assessment, choice and timing of imaging modalities, treatment, and return-to-play strategies are unclear.
Questions to be addressed in this CFP:
- How can the impact of acute myotendinous injuries on athletic participation be reduced?
- What is the efficacy of prevention programs?
- What specific prevention, assessment, and treatment techniques are needed for different injury sites (e.g. hamstring vs. gastrocnemius/soleus)?
- What is the correlation between imaging and clinical assessment?
- Which interventions are effective for treatment?
- What are the risk factors associated with an initial injury?
- What are the risk factors for re-injury?
To read about specific areas of research interest please go to the NBA & GEHC collaboration website.
AWARD MECHANISMS AND AMOUNTS
This CFP will award a total of $1,500,000 over a three-year period to support preclinical and clinical research addressing important unanswered questions regarding myotendinous injury diagnosis, treatment, and prevention in elite basketball athletes. The maximum amount for an individual grant is $300,000 including direct and indirect costs for the entire project period. More focused, impactful projects requiring less support are encouraged.
DEADLINE
Completed applications and proposals must be received no later than 5:00 pm EDT on September 8, 2016.
Scientific peer review and programmatic review is intended to be complete in November of 2016.
This CFP with complete instructions and forms for applying are available at the NBA & GEHC collaboration Myotendinous Injury CFP website (https://gex.brightidea.com/MyotendinousCFP2016).