Douglas Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA, FNAK
Chief Executive Officer
Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticut
Dr. Casa is the CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute (since it was founded in 2010) and is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology (began at UCONN in 1999) at the University of Connecticut. Additionally, he is the editor of a book titled: Preventing Sudden Death in Sport and Physical Activity (2nd edition, 2017), published by Jones & Bartlett in cooperation with the American College of Sports Medicine. Another recent book titled Sports and Physical Activity in the heat: Maximizing Performance and Safety was published by Springer in the winter of 2018. His latest book- Elite Soccer Players: Maximizing Performance and Safety was published by Routledge in 2020. Dr. Casa has published about 400 peer- reviewed publications/book chapters and presented more than 600 times on subjects related to maximizing performance in the heat, exertional heat stroke, heat-related illnesses, preventing sudden death in sport, and hydration. As a licensed athletic trainer Dr. Casa has successfully treated 401 cases of exertional heat stroke (with 0 fatalities). In addition, from 2018 through 2021 he served on the International Olympic Committee Adverse Weather Impact Expert Group for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (took place in 2021) that focused on the extreme heat anticipated for these games. During his 25 years as a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology at UConn the department has been ranked 1st or 2nd for 15 of the 25 years by the National Academy of Kinesiology.
He has been a lead or co-author on over 15 sports medicine position statements/consensus statements/roundtables related to heat illness, hydration, and preventing sudden death and participated as a writing group member on 15 other policy statements for leading organizations (ACSM, NATA, WA, IOC, DOD, etc.). Dr. Casa has worked with numerous media outlets across the country in discussing his research including the HBO, NBC Today Show, Good Morning America, ESPN, CNN, PBS, Sports Illustrated, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, among many others. Dr. Casa earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Allegheny College in 1990; his master’s degree in athletic training from the University of Florida in 1993; and his doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of Connecticut in 1997. He is happily married to his wife Tutita Casa, PhD and they have 3 kids; Montana, Navia and Alessio.
Honors/Awards:
NATA Hall of Fame, 2024
CATA Hall of Fame, 2024
University of Connecticut Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor, 2023
Fellow, National Academy of Kinesiology, 2016
President’s Lecturer, American College of Sports Medicine National Meeting, 2016
NSCA President’s Award, 2012
University of Florida Alumni Hall of Fame, 2011
NATA medal for Distinguished Athletic Training Research, 2008
Fellow, National Athletic Trainer’s Association, 2008
NATA Sayers “Bud” Miller Distinguished Educator Award, 2007
Fellow, American College of Sports Medicine, 2001
