2024
Dr. William Adams, PhD, ATC, FACSM
Dr. William Adams is currently the Associate Director of Sports Medicine Research with the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee where he oversees the Sports Medicine Research Program focused on injury and illness prevention in sport. He also is the Director of the US Coalition for the Prevention of Illness and Injury in sport, which is one of eleven International Olympic Committee designated Research Centres that are located around the world. In addition to his current roles, Dr. Adams also holds appointments at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Loughborough University.
Dr. Adams is currently overseeing projects related to head injuries in sport, women’s health, mental health, para-athletes health, and pediatric athlete health with the long-term goal of reducing injury and illness risk and optimizing performance among elite athletes. Dr. Adams’ research expertise and interests are focused on optimizing human health and performance. Specifically, his interests lie in determining the role of habitual fluid intake on health and wellness, investigating the various facets of exertional heat stroke, and optimizing athletic performance. He has been either a lead or co-author on over 110 publications in both peer-reviewed scientific journals and edited textbooks on topics related to exertional heat stroke, maximizing athletic performance in the heat, hydration on human health and performance, and preventing sudden death in sport and physical activity. Dr. Adams has received extensive funding support for his research, including support from the International Olympic Committee, National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and other foundational, industry, and philanthropic grants and gifts.
In addition to his research efforts, Dr. Adams holds several positions within and across the field of sports medicine. He is the current President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine, the Chair of the American College of Sports Medicine’s Olympic and Paralympic Sports Medicine and Sports Science Committee, a member of the Sports Advisory Council for the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a member of the Taskforce on Research in Soccer for the National Women’s Soccer League, and member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Research & Education Foundation Research Committee.
Dr. Adams received his bachelor’s degree in athletic training at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his master’s and doctoral degrees in Exercise Science at the University of Connecticut, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Korey Stringer Institute. Dr. Adams maintains his involvement with the Korey Stringer Institute as a member of the Medical and Science Advisory Board where he actively assists with KSI’s ongoing efforts in improving health and safety policies within high school athletics.
2023
Rebecca Lopez, Ph.D.
Dr. Rebecca Lopez received her BS and MS in athletic training at Florida International University and completed her P.hD. in exercise science from the University of Connecticut. Dr. Lopez is a certified athletic trainer through the Board of Certification. She is also an NSCA certified strength and conditioning specialist an ACSM certified exercise physiologist. Dr. Lopez joined USF in 2010 and is currently a Professor in the Athletic Training Program within the School of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Sciences and the Morsani College of Medicine. She is the School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences’ Assistant School Director for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Dr. Lopez has been a board member on the Medical and Science Advisory Board for the Korey Stringer Institute since 2010. Her clinical athletic training experiences include working in the high school setting, women’s professional football, and mass medical events. Dr. Lopez’s research interests include exertional heat stroke and other heat illnesses, hydration, preventing sudden death in sports, and creating an inclusive environment in athletic training. Her passion is educating athletic training students, certified athletic trainers, and other clinicians on the evidence-based prevention, recognition, and treatment of exertional heat stroke.
In recent years Dr. Lopez has taken on service roles that have made significant contributions and positive changes in the profession. In 2017, Dr. Lopez was an committee member of the newly formed
NATA’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Committee and then chaired this committee for two years. The mission of this committee is to advocate for an environment of inclusion, respect, and equity and to provide educational resources regarding health care topics affecting patients in the LGBTQ+ community. In 2021, Dr. Lopez was asked to be a co-chair of the NATA’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Task Force. In this role, she was tasked with bringing the NATA’s six commitments to DEIA to life by creating initiatives that cultivate an inclusive and welcoming environment in the profession and ensure that the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and access are embedded in the NATA and the athletic training profession.
2022
Yuri Hosokawa, Ph.D., ATC, FACSM ’17
Dr. Hosokawa is an Associate Professor at Waseda University in Saitama, Japan. Her research interests include prevention and education of sudden death in sport, establishing best practices in road race medicine, development of regional-specific heat guidelines and exploring the roles of genetics in the susceptibility of exertional heat stroke. She is also partaking in research projects in the field of biometeorology to promote interdisciplinary research across physiologist, climatologist, and public health researchers.
Dr. Hosokawa has led projects to help advance the Athletic Training profession in the U.S. and Japan, including assessment of athletic training service return on investment through secondary school insurance cost, National Football League Foundation athletic trainer grant program, and Journal of Athletic Training translation project lead by the Japan Athletic Trainers’ Organization. She is a member of the International Committee of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. She serves as a science advisor for Sport Safety Japan, NPO, and is a member of the International Institute for Race Medicine Ambassador Program Committee.
Dr. Hosokawa received her bachelor’s degree in Sport Sciences from the Waseda University in 2011, her master’s degree in Athletic Training from the University of Arkansas in 2013, and her doctoral degree from the University of Connecticut in 2016. She then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Korey Stringer Institute.