IONA Sport LCS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving Outcomes in Neurodegeneration for All (IONA) Sport Longitudinal Cohort Study
IRAS ID
344510
Contact name
Sarah Gregory
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Scottish Brain Sciences
Duration of Study in the UK
10 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The IONA Sport Longitudinal Cohort Study (LCS) has been established to overcome major hurdles hampering the development of novel neurodegenerative disease prevention, diagnostics and therapeutics for athletes. Recent evidence suggests athlete groups (e.g., professional rugby and football athletes) have an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases compared to the general population, in part due to increased exposure to sport-related concussion (SRC) and sub-concussive impacts during their playing career. Preventing concussions (brain injuries) and the diseases that lead to dementia is a priority. The IONA Sport LCS will provide a well-phenotyped (combining data on neurodegenerative disease risk factors, cognitive assessment results, blood biomarkers and genetics) population of current male and female athletes aged 18-50 across the spectrum of risk for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) dementia and other neurodegenerative conditions. IONA Sport LCS will characterise current and former athlete populations, where much of the modifiable risk and window for intervention may be identified and perhaps most beneficial. Working directly with major sporting organisations, IONA Sport LCS will recruit a decentralised cohort of several hundred female and male professional or international level athletes aged 18-50 years of age and will be available to drive developments globally of more accurate diagnostics new disease modifying therapies.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
25/NS/0086
Date of REC Opinion
1 Sep 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion