U of M Innovations Changing the Game

In a few short days, all eyes will be on the Twin Cities for Super Bowl LII. And behind the scenes of elite athletic competition, exciting developments in sports research and innovation happen at the University of Minnesota. Greater MSP, the region's economic development partnership organization, produced a series of timely stories featuring just a few of U of M's experts who are changing the game in their fields:

  • The Minnesota Vikings look to U of M's Rasa Troup for consultation on the unique nutritional needs of each player, which she then helps track and map to performance. Troup, a licensed registered dietitian and former Olympian, also guides the UMN Women's Cross Country and Track and Field teams on their diet and nutrition. Read the full story
  • William Roberts, M.D., is not only a sports medicine faculty member at the U of M, but also serves as director of the Twin Cities Marathon. A leading expert on hydration, Dr. Roberts's life-saving sodium measurement techniques were refined at the Twin Cities Marathon and are now used across the country. Read the full story.
  • The codirectors of the U of M Wearable Technology Lab work to create a new class of athletic apparel that helps athletes improve performance, offer precise therapy benefits, and recover from injury faster. Lucy Dunne, Ph.D., the lab's founder, and her codirector Brad Holschuh, Ph.D., take wearable technology to the next level with innovations in compression clothing, and with motion-sensing apparel that can offer instant feedback. Read the full story.
  • Concussions in athletics are a pressing health concern as well as a major news topic in recent years. Expanding our understanding of how the brain works can have important legal impacts, according to Francis Shen, Ph.D., who established a groundbreaking neurolaw lab at the U of M to examine the intersection of brain science and law. Shen's athletics-focused research aims to establish guidelines for a reasonable standard of care for the management of concussions. Read the full story.

Visit MSP Innovation to read the full set of sports innovation stories.