Boston University neuroscientist Dr. Robert Stern said his groundbreaking study on head trauma, which was officially launched yesterday, will not be sullied by the long-brewing controversy over the NFL’s alleged attempts to strip him of his funding.
“I’m just so unbelievably excited to get this science moving right now,” Stern told the Herald. “This is the time to do this science.”
He added, “We’re now going to move forward.”
A group of about 50 researchers gathered yesterday and are expected again today at Boston University School of Medicine for the formal kick-off of a $16 billion, seven-year project studying the link between head injury and the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE. Stern is one of four co-principal investigators.
The study will be the first major look at CTE in living subjects, rather than brains donated post-mortem, and will include non-athletes to examine risk factors beyond high-impact sports.
The goal, Stern said, is to find ways to diagnose the condition in people who are still living.
“It’s the largest study to date of examining CTE during life, and the only large-scale study specifically geared toward methods of diagnosing it during life,” he said.
A total of 240 people between 45 and 74 — 120 former NFL players, 60 former college athletes and 60 non-athletes will participate, he said.
The project’s launch comes on the heels of a 91-page congressional report released last Monday stating that the NFL tried to manipulate the research by telling the National Institutes of Health to strip Stern of the funding out of fear that his work would be detrimental to the NFL. The study is now being funded with taxpayer dollars.
ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” which initially covered the report, released a statement from NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy saying: “The NFL rejects the allegations laid out. … There is no dispute that there were concerns raised about both the nature of the study in question and possible conflicts of interest. These concerns were raised for review and consideration through the appropriate channels.”
But Tim Fox, a 62-year-old former Patriots safety who says he is constantly plagued by memory problems, said the league is approaching the issue “from the wrong direction.”
“Dr. Stern garners a lot more respect than the NFL does in terms of truthfulness and research,” Fox told the Herald.
He added, “(Stern) is a football fan. He loves the game. The key is to find a solution for CTE.”
The former player attended the launch event yesterday, where he spoke about his own problems after sustaining multiple head injuries.
“I have significant memory loss on an hourly basis,” he said. “Every 15 minutes I have trouble recalling things. It’s a very, very frustrating situation.”
