ASHS alumna presents research on high school athletic injuries

Although there are 19 times more high school athletes than college athletes, the majority of epidemiological information is for the collegiate athletic population. One ASHS alumna is working hard to level the playing field.

Jennifer Medina McKeon, Ph.D., ATC, CSCS, ’02, shared her research-oriented presentation “From Observation to Intervention: The Pathway to Improving Sports Clinical Outcomes” at a colloquium on ATSU’s Arizona campus on November 5. She shared epidemiologic data that she has collected over the last two years while studying seven Kentucky high schools, as well as her views for future efforts to conduct injury surveillance on a larger scale.

“As an alumna of the ATSU-ASHS athletic training program, and a recognized expert in the area of lower extremity biomechanics, evidence-based practice, and sports injury epidemiology, this colloquium was an opportunity for ATSU students and faculty to have greater exposure to cutting edge research from the athletic training profession,” said Athletic Training Program Director John Parsons, Ph.D., AT/L.

“We hope this event, along with the first annual ASHS research symposium, held November 6, demonstrates ATSU’s commitment to producing quality research that both advances our respective professions and benefits our patients,” he continued.

Dr. Medina McKeon is currently an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Health Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. in kinesiology and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in exercise and sports science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She also serves as a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Sports Rehabilitation.