DKR Fund and UT Southwestern study

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The following letter, denoted in burnt orange, is informational only, not an endorsement by TLSN, even though necessary for an objective study of brain trauma.

The DKR Research Fund has granted UT Southwestern $500,000 to administer a questionnaire and cognitive test to former student-athletes over 50 who played in any NCAA scholarship sport (men and women) from any university but who did not play professionally.

I am passing the following comments to each of you because our Coach would want me to do so. The questionnaire part of the study was objective and non-threatening, but the reflection in the cognitive test mirror was not kind to me.

The test reminded me I am 73 years old and not so sharp anymore. Some are due to age, but some could be because I was knocked unconscious three times in football games and on other occasions, hit so hard that I zigzagged my way back to the huddle instead of returning in a straight line.

This is information that the study needs, but I did not enjoy the process. So make your own decision.

Blessing to All!

Billy Dale

Proud member of the 1967 Longhorn football recruiting class.

Coach Royal may be gone, but he is still building bridges for athletes through the organization founded in his honor, The Darrell K Royal Research Fund. One of the fund’s primary goals is to increase national awareness of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

The DKR Fund board of directors and president Debbie Hanna recently announced a $500,000 grant and multi-year commitment to the highly-respected UT Southwestern Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute to conduct the CollegeLevel Aging Athlete Study (CLEAATS). A study focused on later-life brain wellness in college male and female athletes that have played contact and non-contact sports.  Through the DKR Fund, Royal is once again building a bridge “to help youth whose feet must pass this way.”

Not just a study of football, if you are at least 50 years of age, male or female and played at least one (1) semester of a NCAA or NAIA sport BUT, most importantly, did not play a professional sport, DKR needs your help! The half-million-dollar grant funds a study that hopefully will uncover and address controllable issues enhancing the lives of present and future athletes as they compete in contact and collision activities.

Participants in this study will complete an online survey and a brief telephone interview about their athletic participation history and their current wellness, mood, and cognition. I have done so, and it took 30 minutes to complete the confidential and anonymous questionnaire. Your name will be converted to a number.

Let us live vicariously through Royal’s bridge-building legacy and band behind CLEAATS in hope that we can positively transform the future of college sports.

For more information on enrolling in the CLEAATS study, visit https://cleaats.com  or contact Hannah Doggett via email at Hannah.doggett@utsouthwestern.edu.

For more information on CLEATTS or to join the study visit:

https://cleaats.com/

PRESS RELEASE LINK BELOW

https://prn.to/3LTLNBs

RECENT CLEAATS FEATURE ON KXAN NEWS:

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/how-does-a-concussion-impact-our-brains-texas-university-taking-an-in-depth-look/

Lesley Ford
Vice President, The PR BoutiqueD 512.363.5160 ­M 214.733.0722 ­E lesley@theprboutique.com ­W theprboutique.com ­

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