With two Olympics and two Paralympic Games happening in the blink of a post-Covid eye, how do we ensure that everyone is best prepared? To answer that question, the conference for the British Association of Sports Exercise and Medicine (BASEM) at The Grand Hotel, Brighton, in May 2022 promises to bring together the very best expertise in sport science, sports medicine and health and fitness, from the UK and abroad, chaired by two of the University of Brighton’s most influential professors.
Between the Tokyo opening ceremony that took place on the 23 July 2021 through to Beijing’s Winter Paralympic Games ending on 13 March 2022, the sporting world will have seen four major multisport extravaganzas in only ten months. The Commonwealth Games will follow shortly after, in August 2022, in Birmingham. With competitors pushing for their optimal performance after the difficulties of global lockdown, and the next summer Olympics due in Paris in 2024, it is a time when training and medical staff are under maximum pressure and need access to the latest research and innovations. A postponement of the BASEM conference initially planned for November 2020 due to COVID-19 has meant that this conference can take important lessons from the Olympic and Paralympic events recently held, and that sports medical experts can get greater insight into the many challenges ahead.
The comprehensive sport and exercise medicine conference will follow two interrelated streams – elite sports science/medicine and exercise in medicine and health. It will bring expert discussions on the topics and lessons from the Olympics/Paralympics, the health impacts of a lifetime in elite sport, injury surveillance, mental health, gender impact of doping impact of technology. The conference will also consider how to cope with what Professor Yannis Pitsiladis calls “the biggest threat to humankind”, the widespread starvation from physical activity, made worse by the pandemic. To lead that discussion, the founders of the Global Alliance for the Promotion of Physical Activity will be presenting.
The conference aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers, and clinicians to exchange and share their experiences and research results; to attract new clinicians to sport and exercise with practical workshops; and to provide the opportunity for young scientists to present their work on the podium, meet their mentors and discuss their careers.
Academics and medical personnel from the University of Brighton and the local National Health Service will participate in the event and highlight the wealth of research and community engagement happening in the region. Strategic partners of the event include the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BSMJ), the International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS), the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA) and the World Olympians Association (WOA).
Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has conducted internationally influential research into lifestyle and genetics for human health and performance, notably the use of genomics in the detection of drugs in sport.
Professor Nick Webborn CBE is a researcher in illness and injury prevention. A member of the International Paralympic Committee’s Medical Committee since 2001, he is a widely published author and globally recognised expert in the area of Paralympic Sports Medicine.
For information on PhD study in sports and exercise science and medicine at the University of Brighton, please visit our research degree study pages.