The NBA and GE Healthcare Announce First Round Research Winners to Address Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Musculoskeletal Injuries

CHICAGO & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– The National Basketball Association (NBA) and GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE)
today announced the first round of winning research proposals submitted
to their Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Collaboration. Launched in the
summer of 2015, this strategic collaboration is funding research to
address the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal
injuries* affecting NBA players and everyday athletes. The collaboration
is directed by a Strategic Advisory Board led by Dr. John DiFiori, the
NBA’s Director of Sports Medicine, and an NBA/GE Healthcare steering
committee.

This first round of research proposals focused on the natural history,
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tendinopathy. “Tendinopathy – and
specifically that involving the patellar tendon – is a common issue
among basketball players at all levels,” said Dr. DiFiori, who also
served as co-chair for this call for proposals. “The NBA is pleased to
work with GE Healthcare to fund additional research in this area to
increase our understanding of this condition as we seek to improve
health outcomes and limit the impact on athletic performance for NBA
players and the general population.”

Using a competitive application process with a rigorous scientific
review, six winning proposals were selected from a group of nearly 70.
The following awardees include research teams from leading academic and
healthcare institutions across three continents:

• La Trobe University (Dr. Jill Cook) – Patellar Tendon Pathology,
  Its Development and Relationship with Pain in Elite Athletes. Investigators
  from La Trobe University and the University of Newcastle in Australia,
  as well as Tulane University and the University of North
  Carolina-Chapel Hill in the United States, propose a novel imaging
  method to investigate the relationship between pain and change in
  tendon structure – in both adult and adolescent athletes. This study
  will also evaluate how certain exercises can immediately impact pain,
  help avoid missed games, and make athletes’ tendons stronger.
• University of Calgary (Dr. W. Brent Edwards) – Towards the
  Real-time Monitoring of Tendon Strain and Cumulative Damage to
  Minimize the Risk of Patellar Tendinopathy. Using advanced imaging
  techniques and biomechanical measurements to quantify tendon
  properties, researchers from the University of Calgary, in
  collaboration with adidas and Robbins, Inc., will assess the influence
  of playing surfaces and footwear on the risk of patellar tendinopathy
  and develop a wearable technology to monitor tendon loading during
  play.
• University of Calgary (Dr. Carolyn Emery) – Prevention of Patellar
  and Achilles Tendinopathies in Youth Basketball. Dr. Emery and her
  team of experts aim to identify risk factors for patella and other
  tendon-related injuries in young players, explore self-monitoring and
  reporting programs, and assess the impact of a basketball-specific
  neuromuscular training program, all of which could have a long-term
  impact on young athletes and help them avoid premature exit from sport
  participation.
• University of Wisconsin-Madison (Dr. Kenneth Lee) – Platelet-Rich
  Plasma Therapy for Patellar Tendinopathy: A Randomized Controlled
  Trial Correlating Clinical, Biomechanical and Novel Imaging
  Biomarkers. Dr. Lee and his team of researchers aim to work with
  college basketball players to evaluate the effectiveness of a
  non-surgical intervention for treating patellar tendinopathy (also
  known as “jumper’s knee”) by comparing the use of concentrated
  platelets containing healing growth factors in a controlled study.
  They will also track the healing changes of the patellar tendon using
  new MRI and ultrasound imaging techniques.
• Hospital for Special Surgery (Dr. O. Kenechi Nwawka) – Prospective
  Longitudinal Assessment of Patellar Tendinopathy in Elite Basketball
  Players Using Quantitative Imaging with Correlation to Symptoms and
  Functional Analysis. Leveraging advanced medical imaging
  technology including ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI),
  researchers at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery aim to
  characterize the changes in the patellar tendon over the course of a
  basketball season, thus providing predictive information to identify
  players at an increased risk of developing tendinopathy.
• Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam (Dr. Edwin H.G.
  Oei) – Progressive Tendon-loading Exercise Therapy for Patellar
  Tendinopathy in Jumping Athletes: A Randomized Controlled Clinical
  Trial Evaluated with Advanced 3D Ultrashort Echo Time MRI. Researchers
  from Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with support from the
  Netherlands Basketball Federation, will use a novel MRI technique
  called ‘ultrashort echo time MRI’ to evaluate a new graduated,
  non-invasive exercise therapy for “jumper’s knee” that requires no
  specific equipment. Such an approach could result in increased tendon
  and muscle strength and pain relief.

“NBA players are among the best in the world, and the NBA is committed
to their health and well-being, which is why we’re excited to team up
with GE Healthcare and leading researchers for the benefit of the
players and our game,” said David Weiss, NBA Vice President and
Assistant General Counsel. “The projects we’re announcing today include
important areas of focus for the NBA including injury prevention and
youth health, as well as advanced technologies and methods such as new
approaches to imaging, wearable technology and biomechanics.”

John M. Sabol, PhD, Chief Scientist for GE Healthcare’s Global Research
Organization, noted, “The collaboration between GE Healthcare and the
NBA has provided a unique opportunity to do high impact research. This
call for proposals attracted dozens of high-quality submissions from
leading tendinopathy researchers. Selection of the winning projects was
a challenging task, relying on an independent scientific review panel of
22 academic and clinical experts to evaluate the scientific merit of the
submitted research projects.”

Beyond the upcoming myotendinous injury call for proposals, future calls
from the NBA/GE Healthcare Collaboration may address bone stress
injuries, articular cartilage injury, and other important
musculoskeletal issues affecting NBA players. For more information about
the first round of winning research proposals and future funding
opportunities, please visit https://ge2.brightidea.com/GENBACFP.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and
services to meet the demand for increased access, enhanced quality and
more affordable healthcare around the world. GE (NYSE: GE) works on
things that matter – great people and technologies taking on tough
challenges. From medical imaging, software & IT, patient monitoring and
diagnostics to drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing
technologies and performance improvement solutions, GE Healthcare helps
medical professionals deliver great healthcare to their patients. For
more information, visit our website www.gehealthcare.com.

About the NBA

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three
professional sports leagues: The National Basketball Association, the
Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.
The league has established a major international presence with games and
programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA
merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6
continents. NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured 100
international players from 37 countries and territories. NBA Digital’s
assets include NBA.com and the NBA app, which achieved record traffic
during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV. The NBA has created one of
the largest social media communities in the world, with more than one
billion likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player
platforms. Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social
issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving
organizations that support education, youth and family development, and
health-related causes.

*Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are injuries or disorders of the
muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and disorders of the
nerves, tendons, muscles and supporting structures of the upper and
lower limbs, neck, and lower back that are caused, precipitated or
exacerbated by sudden exertion or prolonged exposure to physical factors
such as repetition, force, vibration, or awkward posture. Source: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/msd/

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