PINK CONCUSSIONS

Timeline of Events and Presentations

by Katherine Snedaker

Note: Events produced by PINK are in BOLD

2010-20 School Nurse and Parent Educational Presentations 

  • Professional Trainings for School Nurses: Norwalk, Darien, Trumbull, Cheshire, Norwalk Public Schools, New Canaan, The Country School

  • Parent Concussion Education Presentations: Fairfield Prep 2015, Darien’s Oxridge School PTA 2015, Cold Spring Harbor Student 2014, and KING Parents and Student presentations, 2010-2014, Norwalk Junior Soccer Association, Rowayton Community Soccer, Weston Youth Lacrosse, Stamford Youth Football

2013 Youth Sports Presentations

  • Sacred Heart University, invited presenter, College Concussions and Return To Learn

  • The Institute of Medicine, Youth Sport Concussions Effect on Families, Invited presenter, DC,

2014

  • The Concussion Conference produced, funded and run by Katherine Snedaker at Quinnipiac University School of Medicine, CT, and at the University of Connecticut, Stamford

  • Sacred Heart University, Athletic Trainers of East Coast Conference, Invited presenter, NCAA DII, CT  2014

  • American Academy of Neurology Sports Concussion Conference, Poster presenter, 2014

2015

  • The Concussion Conference II produced, funded and run by Katherine Snedaker at Quinnipiac University School of Medicine, CT, and at the University of Connecticut, Stamford

  • PINK Concussions becomes a 501c3

  • UMass Concussion Conference, Presenter, Female Concussion, Lowell

  • American Society of Neuroradiology Conference, Poster presenter on Female Athletes’ Experience of Concussion

  • Santa Clara Valley Brain Injury Conference, Presenter, Female Athletes’ Experience of Concussion

  • American Academy of Neurology Sports Concussion Conference, Poster presenter, 2015

  •  The State of Connecticut Commission on Women, Children and Seniors (CWCS), Invited presenter, Hartford

2016

  • PINK Concussions Summit PINK 1 with Georgetown U Medical, DC, 2016

  • PINK Concussions Summit PINK 2 with Palo Alto VA Medical Center, Palo Alto, 2016

  •  IBIA’s World Brain Injury Congress, presented Female Athletes’ Experience of Concussion, The Hague

  • UCONN, Storrs Campus, 2016, Presenter

  • Sports Concussion & Technology National Council on Youth Sports Safety Tour, 2015-2016, Presenter, Sports concussion and technology in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and DC

  • Canadian Brain Injury Conference, Presenter, Female Brain Injury and Concussion, Toronto

  • Defense & Veterans Brain Injury Center’s (DVBIC) Webinar, 2016

  • Brain Injury Association of American’s (BIAA) Webinar, 2016

  • Paper #1 Sanderson, Jimmy, Melinda Weathers, Katherine Snedaker, and Kelly Gramlich. "“I Was Able to Still Do My Job on the Field and Keep Playing” An Investigation of Female and Male Athletes’ Experiences With (Not) Reporting Concussions." Communication & Sport (2016): 2167479515623455.

    • 70% of male athletes were more likely to play on and not report a concussion than female athletes, and reasons for not reporting concussions included a perceived lack of resources, perceived low severity, and conformance to sport cultural norms. But 70% of women failed to report as concussion and while less than the males, this number is important to address.

2017

  • PINK Concussions Summit PINK 3 at IBIA 2017 World Brain Injury Congress, New Orleans

  • PINK FACEBOOK GROUPS launches. And as of 2021, now facilitates 14 online international Facebook peer support groups for over 7,500 women, teenage girls, parents/caregivers, medical professionals/researchers, and women veterans. These online groups are free and very active on a 24-hour basis 7-days a week. There are groups for those interested in exploring more about research projects, topics on substance abuse, and learning ways to become an advocate for others. 

  • International Olympic Committee’s World Conference on the Prevention of Illness and Injury in Sport, one hour workshop presenter, Youth Sport Concussion, Monaco, 2017

  • International Brain Injury Associations’ World Brain Injury Congress, Poster presenter, Youth Sports Concussion Program, New Orleans, 2017

  •  VA Brain Trust, Invited Speaker on PINK Concussions’ Collaborations with the VA, Boston

  • IBIA’s World Brain Injury Congress, Invited Speaker, New Orleans

 2018

  • PINK Concussions Summit PINK 6 with the Tampa VA, Tampa, 2018

  • PINK Concussions Summit PINK 5 at NABIS, Houston, 2018

  • PINK Concussions CTE in Women with Mount Sinai, NYC, 2018

  • PINK Brain Pledge

  • More PINK online support groups started.

  • PINK DV Task force  

  • Brown University Concussion Education Conference, Invited presenter, Concussion Education Programs

  • Santa Clarita Valley Concussion Seminar, Invited keynote speaker, Youth Sport Prevention, Los Angeles

  • Santa Clarita Valley Concussion Conference, Los Angeles

  • US Army Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, 2018 Brain Injury Day, Germany

  • 6th Annual Canadian Concussion Research Symposium, Toronto

  • VA’s IPV & Strangulation/TBI Webinar, 2018

  • 4th Federal TBI Conference, Presenter on Domestic Violence and Female Brain Injury, DC

  • 2018 VA’s Women Veterans, PTSD, and Post-Military Health, Invited presenter on Domestic Violence, Boston

  • ELEVATE Tech Fest HEALTH, Invited presenter on Female Athletes in Sport, Toronto 

  • Utah State Brain Alliance Conference, Invited presenter, Salt Lake

  • The Milken Institute: Future of Health Summit, Invited presenter, “Importance of Women in Brain Banks,” DC

2019 

  • PINK Concussions PINK 7 with IBIA World Brain Injury Congress, Toronto, 2019

  • Harvard Medical School Co-hosting PINK Concussions with the Boston Children’s Hospital Conference

  • Boston Children’s Hospital Conference co-hosted with PINK Concussions, Harvard Medical School

  • Ohio State University’s 4th Brain Health Summit

  • West Virginia State TBI Conference

  • NY Harbor VA’s Post Concussion Dysautonomia/POTS Conference, New York City

  • Western University’s See the Line Conference, London

  •  7th Annual Concussion Research Symposium & 2nd Concussion in Women & Girls Conference, Toronto

  • Rowan’s Day 2019, Sunnybrook Medical Center, Toronto

  • IPV Toolkit Launch, University of Toronto

  • Boston Children’s Hospital Conference co-hosted with PINK Concussions, Harvard Medical School

  • Stanford U Sports Concussion Summit

  • PA’s Brain STEPS: Concussion Return to Learn Community of Practice, Team Leader Webinar, 2019 & 2020

2020                                

  • PINK Concussions PINK 8 with IBIA World Brain Injury Congress, London (postponed due to COVID)

  • PINK Concussions PINK 9 with IBIA World Brain Injury Congress, Melbourne (postponed due to COVID)

  • King’s Daughters Health System Sports Concussion Conference and Concussion Community Night

  • Fordham University School of Social Work – Live presentation to graduate students & webcast

  • California Department of Veterans Affairs, Keynote Speaker to CA Women Veterans, 2020

  •  33rd Annual Conference on Legal and Medical Issues in Brain Injury

  • North America Brain Injury Society 2020 NABIS Conference – 3 presentations 

  • Fordham University School of Social Service, Lecture for MSW Students  

  • Toronto - Domestic Violence/TBI Training - University of Toronto

  • Pennsylvania’s BrainSTEPS: Concussion Return to Learn 

  • CA Dept of Vet Affairs - Brain Injury in Women in the Military-Active Duty and Veterans

  • Women’s Brain Project Annual Conference - International

  • Columbia Univ. Synapse/Pink Concussions conference 2020 - “Domestic Violence during the COVID Pandemic: Women, IPV and Brain Injury”

  •  Paper #2 Daugherty, J., Waltzman, D., Snedaker, K.P., Bouton, J., Zhang, X. and Wang, D. (2020), Concussion Experiences in New England Private Preparatory High School Students Who Played Sports or Recreational Activities. J School Health,90: 527-537. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12899

33% of private school students who played sport reported a lifetime concussion. Risk factors for reporting a concussion included being male, playing contact sports, and playing multiple seasons of school sports.

  • Paper #3 Dana Waltzman, Jill Daugherty, Katherine Snedaker, Jason Bouton & David Wang (2020): Concussion reporting, return to learn, and return to play experiences in a sample of private preparatory high school students, Brain Injury, DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2020.1793388

Private school students frequently did not report concussions, the primary reasons being that they wanted to continue playing their sport, and that they did not think the injury was serious. Being female and being an older student were risk factors for taking longer to return to school and sports, and a quarter of concussed students pretended to feel better than they actually did in order to return to school and sports more quickly. 

  • Brain Injury Professional Magazine - July/August 2020, Guest Editor

2021

  • PINK Concussions PINK X with IBIA World Brain Injury Congress - focus on marginalized/Black women

  • Casual conversations - 28 Episodes 

  • PCADV SoDV caucus – Domestic Violence Training

  • West Virginia Brain Injury Conference

  • SOAR Conference - Domestic Violence and TBI – Canada

  • Columbia University Synapse 2021 Conference - Moderator

  • ThinkFirst Conference on Injury Prevention

  • Paper #4 Eric G. Post, Traci R. Snedden, Katherine Snedaker, Jason Bouton, David Wang, Differences in Sport-Related Concussion History, Reporting Behavior, and Return to Learn and Sport Timelines in Public versus Private High School Student Athletes, Brain Injury, 10.1080/02699052.2021.1890217, (1-8), (2021)

Private school athletes were twice as likely to report a history of sport-related concussion compared to public school athletes, and for those who did not seek help for their concussions (22.4%) the most common reasons were wanting to keep playing sport, and not believing it was serious enough to report.

  • Paper #5 Valera, Eve M. PhD; Joseph, Annie-Lori C. BA; Snedaker, Katherine LCSW; Breiding, Matthew J. PhD; Robertson, Courtney L. MD; Colantonio, Angela PhD; Levin, Harvey PhD; Pugh, Mary Jo PhD; Yurgelun-Todd, Deborah PhD; Mannix, Rebekah MD, MPH; Bazarian, Jeffrey J. MD; Turtzo, L. Christine MD, PhD; Turkstra, Lyn S. PhD; Begg, Lisa DrPH; Cummings, Diana M. PhD; Bellgowan, Patrick S. F. PhD Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury in Females: A State-of-the-Art Summary and Future Directions, Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation: January 2021 - Volume 36 - Issue 1 - p E1-E17 doi: 10.1097/HTR.0000000000000652

2022

See research section for new 2022 papers

LIST OF Conferences 

o   The International Summit on Female Concussions & TBI, Georgetown University Medical Center, Feb. 2016

o   PINK 2 with the Palo Alto VA Healthcare System, Palo Alto, October 2016

o   PINK 3 at IBIA 2017 World Brain Injury Congress, New Orleans, April 2017

o   PINK 4 at International Pediatric Brain Injury Society Conference, Rome, Sept 2017

o   PINK 5 at North American Brain Injury Society, Houston, March 2018

o   CTE in Women at Mount Sinai, NYC, May 2018

o   PINK 6 Exploring Female Military Brain Injury with the Tampa VA, Dec 2018

o   PINK 7 at IBIA World Brain Injury Congress, March 2019

PINK 8 Melbourne and PINK 9 London = postponed due to COVID

o   PINK X to be at IBIA World Brain Injury Congress, July 2021