Athens, Ga. – Kevin Guskiewicz, an expert on sport-related concussions, will speak on “Making Sport Safer through Innovative Science,” as part of the 2014 Bernard B. Ramsey Lecture in Kinesiology. The lecture will be held Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. in Mahler Auditorium of the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The event is free and open to the public and a reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. in Hill Atrium.
Guskiewicz, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, discovered a correlation between the number of concussions a football player suffered and the appearance of dementia, depression and other brain dysfunction later in life.
He is the Kenan Distinguished Professor and founding director of the Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related Traumatic Brain Injury Research Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. He teaches courses in sports medicine, anatomy and research methods at UNC. He is a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, and a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the National Academy of Kinesiology and the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
Guskiewicz leads the National Football League’s subcommittee on safety equipment and playing rules, and has been working with the league over the last decade to develop safer ways to play the game. He serves on the NCAA’s Concussion Committee, NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee, and NFL Player Association’s Mackey-White Committee.
Guskiewicz joined the UNC faculty in 1995 after graduating from the University of Virginia with a doctorate in sports medicine.
The annual lectures of the Bernard B. Ramsey Lecture Series are hosted by the department of health promotion and behavior in the College of Public Health and department of kinesiology in the College of Education. The lecture series honors Ramsey, who graduated from UGA’s business college in 1937 and donated more than $33 million to the university.