GE Healthcare and the National Basketball Association (NBA) will invest up to $1.5 million over three years to support research aimed at preventing, diagnosing, and treating tendinopathy.
Specifically, GE and the NBA are seeking research proposals to address the natural history of tendinopathy in competitive athletes, the anatomic and dynamic factors that can lead to a negative impact on training or game play, and the interventions that can be effective for prevention and treatment, according to the companies. In the future, GE and the NBA may consider proposals that address bone stress injuries, articular cartilage injury, and other important musculoskeletal issues affecting NBA players.
The effort involves a strategic advisory board led by Dr. John DiFiori, NBA director of sports medicine; a steering committee; and a panel of scientific peer reviewers to go over the proposals that will be submitted. GE and the NBA are focusing on four areas of interest:
- Natural history of tendinopathy
- MR and ultrasound imaging features and clinical correlates in tendinopathy
- Treatment of patellar tendinopathy
- Prevention programs
GE and the NBA will award up to $1.5 million over a three-year period to support research addressing these topics. Individual grants will have a maximum amount of $300,000, although smaller, focused projects are also encouraged, according to the companies. Proposal entries can be submitted here and are due by February 10, 2016.
