A collaboration between CAHNR’s Department of Kinesiology and UConn Health, the Institute for Sports Medicine (ISM) helps athletes of all ages perform their best through clinical care, innovative research, and community engagement.

New research from Julie Burland, ISM director of research and assistant research professor of kinesiology, looked at one of the most the catastrophic injuries an athlete can suffer: an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.

Female athletes in high-impact sports like basketball or soccer have a higher rate of ACL injuries than their male counterparts. The researchers recruited 11 female basketball players from UConn and other Connecticut colleges for this study. They found that among these players, fluctuations in levels of biomarkers associated with cartilage production or degradation early in the season were associated with injuries later.

“The take home from this is that we need to be aware of potential earlier season fluctuations in these markers, and earlier season impact loads that could potentially lead to injury later in the season,” Burland says.

ISM takes their work outside the lab to the community through regular events. In March 2024, young athletes learned about injury prevention from UConn Women’s Basketball stars Paige Bueckers and Aubrey Griffin at a workshop hosted at the home of UConn Basketball, Gampel Pavilion. The participants received a personal injury assessment with 3D motion capture technology and had the chance to play with the greats.