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Leeds Beckett recognition at international skeletal health conference
Academics from the Bone and Body Composition research group in the School of Sport recently presented their research at the 22nd annual meeting of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry (ISCD).
The ISCD is a multidisciplinary, non-profit organisation that provides a central resource for a number of scientific disciplines with an interest in medical imaging of skeletal health and body composition, and their annual meeting was held over three days at the National University of Ireland in Galway earlier in June.
Dr Lisa Gannon was awarded the Young Investigator Award and prize money of $1,000 by the ISCD for her abstract, Bone loading and the spine: Total body and lumbar bone mineral density in elite male gymnasts, swimmers and controls, showcasing key findings from her recently completed PhD, supervised by Dr Karen Hind.
Dr Gannon’s research interests and publications concern the bone health of paediatric and elite sports populations. Her recent doctoral study and ongoing research is dedicated to the area of bone health, specifically determining optimal interventions for bone mineral accrual in paediatric and elite sporting populations. This work has extended into prevention, diagnosis and management of potential vertebral deformities in elite athletes.
As an ex-international gymnast, Lisa has worked as a practitioner, teaching, coaching and tutoring gymnastics at all levels from pre-school, primary and secondary level, including INSET, through to working with elite international performers. Her recent appointment as the National Education Director for Welsh Gymnastics reflects her ongoing commitment to the sport and provides a link between research and practice.
Dr Karen Hind, who is clinically certified in the field through the ISCD, leads the expanding research group, which includes staff and PhD students from across the School and externally.
Further work presented at the conference was co-authored by Matthew Lees, Brian Oldroyd, Shane Thurlow, Dr Matthew Barlow, Dr Ben Jones, Dr Zoe Rutherford, Amy Brightmore and Kunwar Bansil of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. This included the first study to explore individual body composition changes with adjustment for machine precision error - DXA- body composition changes in professional rugby union players over one competitive season: a team and individualised approach using LSC (Lees, Oldroyd, Jones, Brightmore, Barlow, Hind).
Two abstracts were rated in the top ten for clinicians. Cross calibration of GE Prodigy to iDXA is not valid for measures of total and regional fat mass in adults (Hind, Treadgold and Oldroyd) focused on the challenges faced when upgrading densitometers. Novel bilateral analysis of AP lumbar spine bone density in elite cricket fast bowlers (Hind, Bansil, Barlow, Rutherford, Lees) is the first study of unilateral sub-regional analysis of the spine and was conducted in response to the high incidence of lumbar spine stress injuries in fast bowlers.
Karen and School of Sport PhD student, Matthew Lees, received recognition through an Honourable Mention by the ISCD Clinical Case Competition Committee for a clinical case study featuring a Paralympic athlete with Crohn’s disease. The case will now be used in the global ISCD clinician training materials and for the ISCD certification exam.
Representation at the conference also included School of Sport PhD candidate, Ian Entwistle, who is exploring musculoskeletal health in UK-based retired rugby players. E-prints of the research presented can be accessed via the Leeds Beckett Repository.
Photo l-r: Ian Entwistle, Karen Hind, Lisa Gannon, Matthew Lees