- Odyssey’s Sports Advisory Board (“SAB”) was formed in 2021 to enhance public awareness of traumatic brain injuries and concussion
- The board’s members – Abby Wambach, Kurt Warner, and Brett Favre – have had storied careers in their respective sports and have expressed hope that scientists will examine their brains after their death to advance their understanding of head trauma
- Abby Wambach has committed her brain to research, hoping her efforts will bridge the gender gap in understanding sports concussions in women
- Sports concussions are worse for women, with female athletes being more likely to develop a sports-related concussion than their male counterparts
Despite indications that sports concussions affect men and women differently, with female athletes being more likely to sustain a concussion than their male counterparts, the consensus still is that a large gender gap exists that inordinately impedes the clear understanding of concussions in women. What the few studies on concussions in female athletes – relative to the number of studies on men in sports – however, show is that sports concussions are veritably worse for women.
Female athletes, studies indicate, experience more symptoms than their male counterparts and take longer to recover. The weight of the issue is further compounded by the fact that female athletes are 1.9 times – and sometimes as much as three times, according to some studies – more likely to develop a sports-related concussion than men in comparable sports.
The reasons advanced to explain the disparity vary widely. From differences in neck strength and microstructure of the brain to the influence of hormones. From coaching protocols to the level of experience on the player’s part. From the management of injuries to the fact that women are more honest in reporting the signs and symptoms of concussion. And as debate rages on regarding the exact cause of the disparity, “one thing scientists agree on is the need for more research about women who sustain head injuries,” writes an article in the Nature journal (https://ibn.fm/aE5vO).
Former female athletes, including marquee Abby Wambach – who during her storied 15-year international career as a soccer player scored 184 goals, won two gold medals in the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, and won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, vaulting her to legendary status in her sport – and other the United States women’s national soccer team (“USWNT”) legends, are playing a crucial role in closing the gap in female athlete brain research (https://ibn.fm/EeGjV). Though Wambach, who is a member of the Sports Advisory Board (“SAB”) at Odyssey Health (OTC: ODYY), had only one diagnosed concussion in her career, she committed her brain to science when she dies to help researchers study the impact of head injuries.
Abby and other USWNT legends who have committed their brains to science, including Brianna Scurry, Megan Rapinoe, Cindy Parlow Cone, Brandi Chastain, and Michelle Akers, are following in the footsteps of the late Australian Football League Women’s (“AFLW”) player Jacinda Barclay. Barclay died in October 2020, aged 29, following a short but intense period of mental illness, becoming the first contact sportswoman in Australia to have her brain donated to the Australian Sports Brain Bank. The move by Barclay was hailed as “a defining moment toward balancing gender equity in sports concussion research” (https://ibn.fm/PLWS0).
It is this contribution to research and sport that makes Wambach an excellent fit for Odyssey’s SAB. Formulated last year to support the company’s efforts to enhance public awareness of traumatic brain injuries and concussions, the SAB comprises members who, like Wambach, have achieved incredible feats in their laureled sports careers and have expressed their hope that researchers could examine their brains posthumously, furthering their understanding of head trauma (https://ibn.fm/If2Rr). The other SAB members include NFL Hall of Famers Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.
“Each of these members has been directly affected by traumatic brain injury and has first-hand experience of its effects on health and quality of life. Concussion is a major health issue not only in sports but also in the military and in everyday life. Our sports advisory board will play an integral role in enhancing the public’s awareness and understanding of the impacts of this common condition for which there is currently no FDA-approved drug treatment. We believe that if we successfully develop and commercialize PRV-002, we will be able to significantly improve outcomes for concussion patients,” said Odyssey CEO Michael Redmond of the SAB’s formation (https://ibn.fm/FxOVk).
Wambach is set to join Stuart Smith in the latest episode of The Bell2Bell Podcast (https://podcast.bell2bell.com/), a part of InvestorBrandNetworks (“IBN”)’s sustained efforts to provide specialized content distribution.
A medical company focused on developing unique, life-saving medical products that offer clinical advantages to unmet clinical needs, including concussion, Odyssey has developed the PRV-002 drug compound that is the subject of ongoing Phase I clinical trials.
For more information, visit the company’s website at https://Odysseygi.com/.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to ODYY are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ODYY
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