NOTE: This is the latest in a series of Q&A stories featuring Brock University faculty members who are integrating the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games into their research projects. For more information on Brock’s academic activities around the Games, visit brocku.ca/canada-games

Brian Roy, Professor of Kinesiology and Interim Associate Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies, researches how exercise and diet regulate the body’s physiological systems, muscle metabolism and sport injuries. His teaching is focused on human physiology, sport nutrition and exercise physiology.

Roy is one of 11 Brock researchers and scholars who received funding under the 2019-2020 round of the VPR Canada Games Grant program. Here, he discusses his research project, titled “Sport injuries during the Canada Games: Informing a standardized prospective injury surveillance system.”

Please give a brief overview of your research project.

We have undertaken a review of all injury data from the Canada Games over the past 10 years. The last report related to injury surveillance from the Canada Games was published in 1989, and the injury surveillance system used at the Games is not currently up to international standards. Our goal is to examine the quality and effectiveness of data collection by medical staff at the Games and to better inform the development and implementation of a validated prospective injury surveillance system for the 2022 Canada Games.

What do you expect will be the outcome of your research? 

Ultimately, we hope to develop an injury surveillance system that is both functional and easy to use by medical staff while also providing high quality data on the burden of injury for athletes at the Canada Games. The goal of any injury surveillance system is to understand the risk and severity of injuries related to sport, which then allows for the design and evaluation of injury prevention strategies.

How will this contribute to knowledge or understanding of the Canada Summer Games?

We hope to better inform decision-making by both Canada Games officials and the related sport governing bodies with regard to many different factors that can influence athlete safety. Even things such as the scheduling of events or the design of specific venues could potentially have an impact on athlete safety. However, to be informed and make decisions, we need good quality data about injuries that occur at the Games. To collect that data, you need a high-quality injury surveillance/data collection system in place during the Games.

How did you become interested in this research?

My interest in injury surveillance came about when I was Chair of the Department of Kinesiology at Brock. While meeting with other kinesiology administrators from across Canada, we realized that we had no data about injuries in students participating in varsity athletics. We then created a working group and began to develop an injury surveillance system for varsity athletes at Canadian universities. Through this work, I met one of my collaborators, Dr. Amanda Black from the University of Calgary. Amanda is an outstanding researcher and brings a wealth of expertise to this project.  My other collaborator, Dr. Katie Dalziel, is one of the sports medicine physicians who works with Brock Sports, and who has been involved with many international sporting events.

How do you plan on sharing your research?

It is our intention to first share our findings with Canada Games, and then assist with the implementation of a novel surveillance system for the upcoming Games. We also plan on presenting our findings at a number of national and international sports medicine conferences.

Do you have any advice or tips on how colleagues in your Faculty can incorporate the Canada Games into their research?

We have found that everyone from Canada Games has been helpful and open to our recommendations. There are many opportunities to undertake research in relation to the Games—both past and present. I would encourage researchers with any ideas related to the Games to reach out and discuss their ideas with Canada Games, as they were very helpful with our research team.