Lily Tiefel, a current University of Michigan Master’s student at the School of Public Health, has significantly advanced our understanding of concussion among adaptive sports athletes. Through her summer internship with the U-M Injury Prevention Center, Lily collaborated with faculty and staff from the U-M Concussion Center to create the first college-level concussion baseline testing using C3 Logix, a cloud-based concussion management system used by clinicians nationwide, for the University of Michigan Adaptive Sports and Fitness Program. She worked alongside Concussion Center Associate Director of Research Dr. James Eckner and Dr. Melissa Tinney, an executive board member of the University of Michigan Adaptive and Inclusive Sports Experience and clinical assistant professor with the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Michigan Medicine.
Lily’s research, titled “Pioneering Concussion Baseline Testing in Collegiate Adaptive Athletes: Addressing Gaps and Challenges,” was showcased at the Celebrating Equity: Health Behavior & Health Equity Symposium hosted by the U-M School of Public Health. Lily presented her findings at a poster session, engaging attendees in discussions about her discoveries. She clarified that this summer was dedicated not to conducting new research but to developing and implementing adaptive sports and fitness concussion programs. During this time, Lily and her team collected baseline concussion testing data for every adaptive athlete before the start of their training and fall seasons. The primary focus was to launch the program and establish protocols for these baseline assessments.
Lily acknowledged that before beginning this project, the team understood that adaptive athletes often perceive injuries differently than others, and that the variations of these perceptions can vary depending on the disability. She identified several key findings from her work. Notably, some tests proved to be challenging for the athletes in unintended ways and did not appear to be testing what they were intended to test. For example, athletes with impaired upper extremity motor control had a difficult time performing Trails tests and had low scores that did not reflect their executive function, which is what the test is intended to evaluate. Another major insight Lily emphasized was the need for research to develop more balanced tests tailored to disabled athletes. Their findings revealed that while some concussion tests were designed for adaptive athletes, they were not adaptable for all types of disabilities. Lily questioned, “When we think about specific disabilities such as visual impairments, and we have a visual acuity test, how can we rethink tests to make everything more equitable?”
Despite the limited time frame of the summer, Lily recognized there was much more to explore. Throughout the summer, she took detailed notes and observations based on themes, dates, and issues that arose during testing. However, the team was only able to gather feedback from one athlete, leaving Lily eager to learn more about the experiences and feedback from other athletes regarding the testing process.
The coaching and mentorship offered by Drs Tinney and Eckner have been transformative in Lily’s summer internship experience. She successfully merged her interests with her mentors to develop this project, which they also found engaging. Dr. Eckner commented, “Lily was great to work with this summer. She was a perfect fit for this project, falling at the intersection of concussion and adaptive sports, and she played a critical role in getting this baseline concussion testing program started for our adaptive athletes here at UM. I’m excited to see where she will take her career from here.”
Lily’s commitment to this research is also very personal, as she lives with lifelong traumatic brain injury (TBI). Lily mentioned that she has learned to be at peace with her identity. Her experiences have fueled her passion for concussion research and adaptive sports. Prior to her time at the University of Michigan, Lily interned at Michigan State University’s adaptive sports program and now coaches wheelchair adaptive sports there. Since being an undergraduate student, adaptive sports has challenged her to look at health and equity in a different light, and it’s really inspired her to pursue the field of health equity through something she loves, which is sports.
Reflecting on her academic journey, Lily expressed concern over lacking disability studies courses within top-tier public health programs, underscoring the importance of inclusivity and accessibility in educational and research settings. Lily noted that it makes her think about her trajectory in this field: “If I am going to design or continue research in public health, I need to make it as accessible as possible to all people with disabilities.”
As adaptive sports gain recognition and become more accessible, Lily is enthusiastic about expanding and enhancing these programs. She noted recent developments in Ann Arbor, where local parks and recreation programs have become more accessible thanks to new grants, benefiting the University of Michigan’s adaptive sports programs and the broader community.
“If I am going to design or continue research in public health, I need to make it as accessible as possible to all people with disabilities.”
– Lily Tiefel
Lily has done amazing research and we are excited to see where her future takes her. Currently one of her greatest aspirations is to find a job or research that she is as passionate about as she was with this past project and make a career out of it. Lily has many interests and many passions in the field of public health and disabilities. She plans to follow that great passion and continue her work towards a more equitable future.