S.M.A.R.T.

Current Research Projects

Heat Pill

Thousands of high school, college, and professional athletes in the Tampa Bay area train outdoors in Florida's sweltering heat and high humidity. Training hard in Florida's high temperatures can be potentially fatal to athletes if the body overheats. Now, a study by doctors at USF Health seeks to arm coaches and athletic trainers with the information they need to prevent life-threatening heat exhaustion and illness. The study uses a small, silicone-coated electronic pill the size of a multivitamin to monitor the core body temperature of USF football players who volunteer as test subjects. The athletes swallow the pills before running on a treadmill and exercising in a medically supervised heat laboratory that replicates the climate players experience during a typical practice day on the football field.

A major cause of death in athletics is heat illness," said Dr. Eric Coris, a member of USF Health's Sports Medicine & Athletic-Related Trauma Institute and the primary investigator of this study. "With this study, we are finding that we can monitor players' core temperature in a practical way to try to keep them out of trouble.

State of Florida Secondary School Medical Coverage Survey

Across the country, high school sports are being played with various forms of on-site medical coverage. The purpose of this survey being completed by secondary school athletic directors is to identify what trends of on-site coverage exist at high school football events in the State of Florida. Larry Lemak, MD, the Director of the SMART Institute and the founder of the National Center for Sport Safety (NCSS), believes strongly that all children participating in athletic events should have appropriate medical coverage based upon the risk and prevalence associated with the respective sport that one participates in.

Dr. Lemak notes "When you drop your child off at a swimming pool, you expect that there will be a lifeguard present to assure a safe environment. Why should this be any different for other sporting activities?" He adds, "Parents expect professionals to be responsible for providing the very best care with one's most valuable commodity – a child.

Injury Registry

The SMART Institute is currently analyzing injury patterns occurring in secondary school athletes in the Tampa Bay region. This project, spearheaded by Dr. Karen Liller, captures data collected from the SMART certified athletic trainers in the secondary school settings and is reviewed for trends, patterns, and other common findings in an effort to recognize the major causes of injuries. Compared to other research studies that have looked at injury patterns, the SMART Institute's custom-developed surveillance software program plans to analyze data that has never before been recorded. It is the goal of the SMART Institute to carefully review the data that crosses many sports, both male and female alike, and establish recommended guidelines for injury prevention.

One of the important things the injury registry will be will be to look at the athlete's exposure to the sports to determine true risk. With this information we can make a difference through the development of targeted intervention programs that will be evaluated for efficacy in reducing injuries and their outcomes. With the help of our certified athletic trainers, we are making our secondary school athletic programs safe and places where the students can grow and thrive!

-Dr. Karen Liller