The Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine at Hope College will feature the address “Preventing Sudden Death in Athletes” on Monday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Casa is chief operating officer of the Korey Stringer Institute as well as director of athletic training education and a professor in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut. The mission of the Korey Stringer Institute is to provide education, advocacy and resources to try to prevent sudden death in sport, especially as it relates to exertional heat stroke.
In his biographical sketch, Casa notes that his passion for the study of exertional heat stroke began in 1985, when as a teen he suffered an exertional heat stroke while running a 10K race. He explains, “I was fortunate to receive amazing care on-site from the athletic trainer; the EMT’s in the ambulance; and at the hospital from the emergency room physicians and nurses. I only survived because of the exceptional care that I received. I was just 16 years old at the time, but I have been driven by this experience since that day.”
Casa earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Allegheny College in 1990, his master’s in athletic training from the University of Florida in 1993 and his doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of Connecticut in 1997.
Across his career, he has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and presented more than 300 times on subjects related to exertional heat stroke, heat-related illnesses, preventing sudden death in sport and hydration. He has successfully treated more than 100 cases of exertional heat stroke.
He received the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Service Award in 2009. In 2008, NATA presented him with its Medal for Distinguished Athletic Training Research and named him a Fellow. He received NATA’s Sayers “Bud” Miller Distinguished Educator Award in 2007, and has been a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine since 2001.
Casa has been a lead or co-author on numerous sports medicine (ACSM, NATA) position statements related to heat illness and hydration. He has worked with numerous media outlets across the country in discussing his research, including NBC’s “Today Show,” ESPN, CNN, “Sports Illustrated,” “USA Today,” “The Wall Street Journal” and “The New York Times.”
The Distinguished Lecture Series in Sports Medicine is designed for health care professionals with an interest in physically active patients, and is intended for students, educators and clinicians alike. It is co-sponsored by Shoreline Orthopaedics, Holland Hospital Rehabilitation Services, The Bone and Joint Center, and the college.
The series will continue with the address “Truths/Myths of Concussion Management” on Monday, Feb. 25, by Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher of University of Michigan Neurology.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., on College Avenue between 10th and 12th streets.