Johns Hopkins Doctor Seeking Swimmers for Brain Injury Recovery Study

Anya Pelshaw
by Anya Pelshaw 10

March 03rd, 2022 News

Dr. Jennifer Coughlin in Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Psychiatry has been working on a research study to see if the brain is protected from inflammation and damage through participation in contact compared to non contact sports.

She has now increased the age limit from 40 to 50 and is still seeking swimmers to participate. The new age range is from 23-50. Research assistant Shannon Sweeney said the reasoning for the change is “in hopes of age-matching our healthy control cohort to our slightly older NFL cohort.”

Qualifications include:

  • 23-50 years of age
  • healthy adult male without chronic illness
  • no history of psychiatric disease
  • played an organized, non-collision sport in college or higher level for 2 or more years

Qualified participants will undergo a PET scan, an MRI scan, and an optional lumbar puncture at one or two time points.

Please contact Dr. Jennifer Coughlin at 443-287-4701 or [email protected] for more details. Those completing the study will receive compensation of up to $500.

10
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

10 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
ACC fan
2 years ago

Optional lumbar puncture! Ooohh, sign me up!

Goblin Walk
2 years ago

Now that they raised the age limit to 50, Johns Hopkins’ very own Uncle CJ is eligible for this study!!

Former Big10
2 years ago

I participated. Very friendly staff, accommodations were wonderful, and the Harbor was WAY cooler than I expected. Everything is very walkable!

mcmflyguy
Reply to  Former Big10
2 years ago

you close by there or is it anywhere in the US?

Former Big10
Reply to  mcmflyguy
2 years ago

They will fly you out! It’s actually a nice way to get away for a couple of nights! I’d never been to Baltimore, so that was a cool experience.

Former Big10
Reply to  mcmflyguy
2 years ago

I’m in a Western state, reached out to them, and I had accommodation’s the following week! They work as quickly as you want.

Swammer
Reply to  mcmflyguy
2 years ago

I also went. If it’s a money thing, literally all travel and hotel is covered. The costs do not come out of the compensation. The cognitive tests were interesting. Great people, great study, contributions will hopefully help future NFL players.

Sun Yang's Mom
2 years ago

Lol do swimmers really have that much brain damage?
I guess backstrokers can if they miss the flags and hit the wall

Former Big10
Reply to  Sun Yang's Mom
2 years ago

they are comparing non trauma brains (swimmers) to brains that have had trauma (football, soccer, etc…)

Anonymoose
Reply to  Former Big10
2 years ago

Oooh that explains so much about football players

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. She also attended 2023 US Summer Nationals as well as the 2024 European Championships …

Read More »