NFL commits $30 million to medical research for sports-related medical problems
With increasing attention being given to the effects of concussion and other brain injuries on athletes, the National Football League (NFL) is donating $30 million to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) fund research on serious medical conditions prominent in athletes. This is the largest philanthropic gift in the league's 92-year history.
The contribution will help fund a new Sports and Health Research Program, which will be conducted in collaboration with institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Potential research subjects include: chronic traumatic encephalopathy; concussion; understanding the potential relationship between traumatic brain injury and late life neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer's disease; chronic degenerative joint disease; the transition from acute to chronic pain; sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes; and heat and hydration-related illness and injury.