Academic Integration and Competitive Excellence in Division I Athletics harvard Football News 2016 sports medicine Brant Berkstresser Associate Director of Athletics Head Athletic Trainer Brant Berkstresser oversees the Harvard Sports Medicine Department which includes multiple team physicians, fifteen certified athletic trainers, sports dietician, chiropractor, radiologist technician and athletic training students. The department serves all 42 varsity sports. Berkstresser works directly with Harvard’s football team. In addition, he is also a preceptor within Boston University, Bridgewater State University, Lasell College and Salem State University undergraduate athletic training programs. Berkstresser began his tenure at Harvard in July 2008 as the Head Athletic Trainer. He was promoted to Assistant Director of Athletics/Head Athletic Trainer in July of 2009 and most recently promoted to Associate Director of Athletics/Head Athletic Trainer in October of 2013. During his time at Harvard, he has also received several awards from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which oversees the athletic department. He was granted the Impact Leadership Award in 2010 and 2011 which recognizes high-achieving employees who consistently exhibit superior performance with exceptional effectiveness. Most recently, he was a 2013 Dean’s Distinction award winner, which recognizes a small number of FAS staff members for their outstanding citizenship and exceptional contributions in support of FAS’s teaching and research mission. Berkstresser has given national and international presentations for numerous health and safety professional organizations. He is a co-author of journal articles related to cardiology and orthopedic injury management. He is currently assisting our team physicians on various studies evaluating the use of EKG screening as part of the pre-participation physical exam and the effects of aerobic and anaerobic training on cardiac function through The Harvard Athlete Initiative. In addition, he is involved with a concussion epidemiology study with the Ivy League and Big Ten Conferences, as well as a long-term longitudinal concussion study with the Harvard Medical School, which researches “the assessment of blood serum biomarkers, neurophysiological function, and balance control, after concussion in collegiate athletes.” He previously served as a member for both the Ivy League Ad Hoc Committee on Concussions and a Core Committee Member of the Big Ten/Ivy League Collaboration on Concussions. At the NCAA level, Berkstresser currently serves on the Concussion Safety Protocol Committee. In addition, he most recently served on the Bylaw 17 Working Group, Health and Safety Cross Functional Team and was the Chair for the NCAA Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sport Committee. Berkstresser came to Harvard after spending five years as Georgia Southern University’s Head Athletic Trainer and Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Medicine. While at GSU, Berkstresser oversaw a staff of eleven certified athletic trainers (ATC) and in the care of roughly 400 student-athletes. Additionally he also served as a preceptor in their undergraduate athletic training program. Prior to joining Georgia Southern, Berkstresser served as an assistant athletic trainer at the University of Maryland from 1997-2003, working as one of the Terrapins’ football athletic trainer. Berkstresser previously spent four years as assistant athletic trainer at Kansas State and was the Wildcat men’s basketball program’s athletic trainer while also assisting in the athletic training efforts during football season. From 1991-93, he earned an appointment in KSU’s graduate assistant program while working on requirements for a master’s degree. During the summer of 1990, Berkstresser completed an internship with the New York Jets Football Club. A native of State College, Pa., Berkstresser earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education with an emphasis in Athletic Training from West Virginia University in 1991 and then earned a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology from Kansas State in 1993. Berkstresser is married to the former Gretchen DeForeest. Dylan Lothian Athletic Trainer Nicolas Benitez Athletic Trainer Jordan Knight Athletic Trainer Dylan Lothian joined the Athletic Department as a member of the sports medicine team in 2016, and has been assigned to football and women’s water polo. Lothian spent 2015 as the head athletic trainer at Hopkins High School. In addition, Lothian served an athletic trainer for the USTA Boys 16 and 18 National Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan and provided medical coverage for football and soccer camps at Western Michigan University. In 2012, Lothian assisted the general medical team as a student-volunteer at the IIHF Women’s World Championships in Burlington, Vermont and the Vermont Lake Monster Single A professional baseball team, performing all exit physicals on the players. Lothian has also worked closely with runners, delivering blood samples and providing wound care to those in the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon and a US Triathlon Qualifier, both in Burlington, Vermont in 2012. A Franklin, Vermont native, Lothian received his bachelor of science in athletic training education from the University of Vermont in 2014 and earned his MS in athletic training from Western Michigan University in 2016. Nicolas Benitez joined the Athletic Department as a member of the sports medicine team in 2016, and has been assigned to football, men’s and women’s track & field, and men’s and women’s cross country. In June 2015, Benitez served as a volunteer athletic trainer for the United States Olympic Committee. In Colorado, he competed a medical volunteer program assisting full time staff with the care and coverage of resident and visiting athletes across a variety of sports. Benitez makes his return to Cambridge after serving as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the Crimson for two years from 2012-14. With the Crimson, he assisted in the coordination of daily operations in Harvard’s athletic training facilities, working specifically with the football team and independently coordinated care for the women’s water polo team. Benitez spent 2014 as an athletic trainer for Brown University, coordinating care for student-athletes, specifically working with men’s and women’s track & field, men’s and women’s cross country, and women’s gymnastics teams, as well as assisting in pre-season and game medical coverage for football. At Brown, he played an instrumental role in mentoring and teaching staff and served as member of the eating disorders committee. In 2013, Benitez served as medical director for the NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship, coordinating medical coverage for the eight-team championship tournament. In 2011, Benitez was a member of the Chicago Bears Summer Camp medical team, assisting staff certified athletic trainers with prevention, care, and rehabilitation of athletic injuries. Benitez received his bachelor of science in athletic training from the University of Michigan in 2012 and earned his MS in human physiology from Boston University in 2014. Jordan Knight joined the Harvard sports medicine staff during the 2014-15 academic year, and works primarily with baseball and football. Knight came to Harvard after spending the last three years at Auburn University. Knight was most recently a graduate assistant athletic trainer with the Tigers, where he worked closely with the football and baseball programs, as well as serving as the liaison between the athletic trainers and team physician. He coordinated bi-weekly orthopedic clinics for athletes seen by Dr. James Andrews. He also worked with the men’s tennis, baseball, and cheerleading teams at Auburn. A native of East Waterboro, Maine, Knight graduated with a master’s degree from Auburn in 2014, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Maine in 2012. | 23 |
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