Posted on

High Point Student’s Research Featured

High Point University student Emma Zuk, a junior athletic training major, was an invited speaker at the 41st annual Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association Clinical Symposium on March 11-12 in Atlanta. Her presentation was a part of the professional programming for athletic trainers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Titled “Understanding the Relationship Between Static Posture and Dynamic Motion: Clinical Implications for Increased Risk of Knee Injuries,” Zuk’s presentation focused on how factors of the hip contribute to knee injuries, particularly in youth athletes. Research in this area has previously been limited.

Zuk has been collaborating with Dr. Yum Nguyen, associate professor in the Department of Athletic Training, for more than two years. Working with a youth soccer organization in Wilmington, Zuk and Nguyen are collecting data on young athletes as they mature and analyzing the results to develop intervention plans that could potentially lower the risk of ACL injuries.

“The more data we can collect, the clearer the results will be to help with a potential intervention program,” Zuk says. “The opportunity to present at this conference has continued to broaden my experience and future connections. I am extremely grateful to work with Dr. Nguyen and all of the opportunities that have come with participating in research.”

Zuk plans to present her latest work in this area at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association meeting in June. Nguyen says the opportunity to be featured at professional meetings is usually reserved for established researchers and clinicians who have a reputation for expertise in their field.

“Receiving an invitation to present at this professional meeting is an honor and a reflection of Emma’s research accomplishments in the field of sports medicine,” Nguyen says. “I am proud of all Emma’s accomplishments and this invited presentation is evidence that her work and expertise is recognized across the nation.”

CLICK HERE FOR ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Posted on

High Point Athletic training student Publishes Work

New research published by High Point University junior Emma Zuk and a team of professors offers helpful information about the relationship between hip exercises and knee motions during sport activities in the prevention of ACL injuries.

The article, titled “An evidence-based review of hip-focused neuromuscular exercise interventions to address dynamic lower extremity valgus,” appears in the Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine. It summarizes existing research and offers a practical explanation of hip exercises that could reduce knee injuries. It can be viewed online athttp://dx.doi.org/10.2147/OAJSM.S72432.

Zuk, an athletic training major from Stoughton, Massachusetts, and faculty members from the School of Health Sciences, the Department of Physical Therapy and the Department of Athletic Training conducted the research in HPU’s state-of-the-art Human Biomechanics and Physiology Lab. They are currently collecting data on how changes in hip strength and flexibility in adolescent athletes may contribute to injuries, which Zuk presented at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association meeting this summer. The paper complements this ongoing research with suggested hip exercises clinicians can use with patients.

“The hip plays a major role during sport activities and has been identified as an important factor in ACL injuries,” Zuk says. “Our work discusses the scientific evidence on hip-focused interventions commonly used to address knee injuries and provides the sports medicine community with practical applications that may be used both clinically and in future research studies.”

Zuk says being involved in such beneficial research as an undergraduate and working closely with faculty mentors has provided an unparalleled learning experience.

“The opportunity to contribute to this paper has been an amazing experience I may not have had elsewhere,” Zuk says. “The support and mentorship of the faculty has inspired me to continue my research and challenged me to work to my full potential. I am very proud of our work.”
Emma Zuk 2
Zuk is continuing her research as project coordinator for a study at HPU that seeks to understand the risk factors for ACL injuries in youth soccer athletes. She is also co-authoring two additional journal articles and planning research presentations for upcoming conferences.

 

“It is rare that an undergraduate student publishes a manuscript – it is even more rare to accomplish this as a sophomore,” says Dr. Yum Nguyen, assistant professor of athletic training and one of the article’s co-authors. “I am extremely proud of Emma’s contributions to this paper and her commitment to learning through research. Publishing this manuscript, along with all of the other research experiences, has provided her with remarkable learning experience that will help her excel as a clinician and as she pursues graduate studies. These incredible accomplishments are a result of Emma’s hard work, and I am fortunate to have her as part of our research team.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Junior Athletic Training Major, Professors Publish Hip Research

Posted on

High Point students featured for research efforts

Three High Point University undergraduate students presented research at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Clinical Symposia and Annual Meeting in St. Louis this summer. The meeting is the world’s largest gathering of certified athletic trainers.

Andrea Baellow, a 2015 graduate, senior Katherine Van Wert and junior Emma Zuk, all athletic training majors at HPU, shared original research they conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Yum Nguyen, assistant professor of athletic training.

Baellow received the NATA Research and Education Foundation Free Communication Undergraduate Presentation Award for her presentation, “Influence of Hip Strength and Range of Motion on Landing Kinematics Across Maturation Groups in Youth Athletes.” She has been a finalist for this award the past two years. Through her research, she determined the factors that increase the risk of an ACL injury are different in youth athletes and are dependent on their stage of maturation. These findings will help clinicians develop more specific and effective interventions to reduce the risk of ACL injuries in youth athletes.

Van Wert was named a finalist for the award for her presentation, “Influence of Static Lower Extremity Alignment on Lower Extremity Kinematics Across Functional Tasks.” Her findings show that hip flexibility is predictive of lower extremity motion across sport tasks. These findings will help future research understand the role of anatomy in lower extremity function and the most relevant factors that increase the risk of ACL injuries.

Zuk presented “Longitudinal Changes in Lower Extremity Strength and Range of Motion in Female Youth Soccer Players,” which describes how hip function changes as adolescent female soccer players increase in age. Her research showed changes in flexibility with age but no associated increase in strength over a three-year period, which may explain why adolescent female soccer players are at greatest risk of ACL injuries. Her findings are an important step toward developing effective interventions to reduce the risk of ACL injuries.

“The opportunity to present their research at a major conference has provided these students an educational opportunity that few undergraduate students get to experience,” says Nguyen. “They presented alongside the leading professionals conducting ACL research across the world. This opportunity allowed them, and High Point University, to be recognized nationally and internationally, and has provided the students with advanced knowledge to be highly competitive as they pursue future graduate studies.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Students Present Research at National Athletic Training Association Meeting