New division expands sports science, research and innovation at Duke Athletics

Duke University has been a leader in sports science for decades. This summer, Duke affirmed its commitment to remaining on the forefront of integrating science and sport by establishing the Sports Science, Research and Innovation division within the Department of Athletics. 
 
The new division, under the guidance of director Nicholas Potter and assistant director Jon Sedy, reinforces and builds upon a foundation that has been in the making for the last 20 years. 
 
“The evolution of this division was driven by the combination of a genuine curiosity into the complex array of factors impacting each student-athlete, along with a passion for investigating the utility of state-of-the-art technology to positively influence athlete health, wellness, development and performance,” Potter said.

Sports Science, Research and Innovation synthesizes the communication, data sharing and technology implementation of multiple entities within the Athletics Department, including athletic medicine, sports performance, sports nutrition, and mental health and performance. 
 
The creation of the division follows “years of strategic innovation and foresight that advanced our ability to keep student-athletes healthy and optimize their performance,” said Heather Ryan, deputy director of athletics/student-athlete experience. “As an Athletics Department, this was the right time to officially build out this division and take it to the next level.”  

On a regular basis, 13 staff members dedicated to Sports Science, Research and Innovation are gathering individualized information on student-athletes, including wearable GPS devices and portable force plates that track distance, speed, power and movement during practices and workouts, as well as analyzing surveys to capture insights.

The data collected through these mechanisms is analyzed and reported to the coaches, support staff and student-athletes to help optimize performance, improve training and identify injury trends, among many other benefits. 

“The data helps provide us with a holistic, 360-degree view of our student-athletes daily, which allows us to provide timely interventions that enhance health, wellness, development and performance,” said Potter. 
 
The Sports Science, Research and Innovation unit reaches beyond the Athletics Department to forge valuable campus partnerships that expand and enhance the work and its outcomes. 

A Division with Partnerships
 
Many campus partnerships have already been created through this initiative:

• Duke Sports Sciences Institute, headed by Dr. Ned Amendola, chief medical officer with Duke Athletics, to conduct hydration testing and scans of body composition and bone density.
• The Duke Heart Center, led by Dr. Manesh Patel, chief of the division of cardiology, provides innovative cardiovascular performance and muscle physiology assessments.
• Additional strategic collaborations have been established with The Fuqua School of Business, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke Infectious Disease, and the Duke Analytics Club, creating a comprehensive team of specialists that help to optimize student-athlete testing, monitoring, analysis, research production and data visualization. 

“With every single thing that we do, the ultimate objective of every test, analysis, report and intervention is to positively impact the student-athlete experience,” said Potter.