Researcher Spotlight - Oluwatoyosi (Olu) Owoeye, PhD, MSc, BPT

Hi! I am Olu Owoeye, a Nigerian-Canadian residing in the United States. I am an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, Saint Louis University, MO. I am a research physical therapist with expertise in sports injury epidemiology and prevention. Before moving down south to work in the United States, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the International Olympic Committee funded Sport Injury Prevention Research Center, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 4 years. This position provided me the opportunity of leading research projects funded by the NBA and GE and other funding agencies. 

Studies from my postdoc projects and my previous research efforts have produced several scientific publications informing best practices and future research directions in the field of sports injury prevention and knowledge translation. Specifically, my research is focused on the discovery and translation of knowledge that informs the prevention of sport-related injuries and associated consequences in youth and young adults. 

My current project at the Saint Louis University – RICHLoad, meaning Reducing Injuries in Collegiate atHletes through Load Management, aims at developing an athlete monitoring system (mobile app and dashboard) for the daily tracking of psycho-physiological load (RPE) and weekly prediction of injury risk based on multivariable regression models in collegiate soccer and basketball athletes (details here: https://cs.slu.edu/projects/richload/). We are hopeful this innovative tool would be useful to college soccer and basketball coaches and sports medicine professionals in mitigating the risk of overuse and traumatic injuries among student-athletes in the United States.

Find me on Twitter at @owoeye_oba

Researcher Spotlight is a regular feature that highlights faculty research in the Saint Louis University Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training.  

SLU PT Faculty Member Oluwatoyosi Owoeye Presents at the 6th Annual IOC World Conference on Prevention of Injury & Illness in Sport

Dr. Oluwatoyosi (Olu) Owoeye presents at the IOC Conference

 

SLU Physical Therapy faculty member Dr. Oluwatoyosi (Olu) Owoeye attended the 6th Edition of the IOC World Conference of Injury and Illness Prevention in Sport in Monaco from November 25 to November 27, 2021 and presented a workshop and two oral (podium) research talks.  You can view the full program of the conference on the International Olympic Committee's website.

Workshop Presentation 

Title: Making it Stick: Adherence Research in Sports Injury Prevention 

This was an engaging one-hour workshop that introduced participants to key concepts in implementation and adherence research, including research design and theories specific to adherence research. Dr. Owoeye was the sole instructor/facilitator. 

Research Presentation I 

Title: The Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Training Warm-up Program to Reduce Knee and Ankle Injuries in Youth Basketball: A Historically Controlled Study 

Research Presentation II 

Title: Supervised implementation of a neuromuscular training warm-up program to improve adherence and reduce injuries in youth basketball: A cluster-randomized trial  

Dr. Owoeye was also the sole presenter of the two abstracts above. These two research presentations emerged from the Youth Basketball Injury Prevention Project at the University of Calgary in Canada. This research work was funded by NBA/GE research grant and Dr. Owoeye was the project lead. The two studies have been combined into one large publication that recently was accepted in the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy. Collaborators on the paper are Carolyn Emery, Anu Räisänen, Kimberley Befus, Tate HubkaRao, Luz Palacios-Derflingher, and Kati Pasanen. 

Learn more about Dr. Owoeye and his research on the Saint Louis University website.

SLU Program in Physical Therapy Annual Irma Ruebling Distinguished Speaker Event Provided Insights and Priorities for Physical Therapy Research

The Saint Louis University Program in Physical Therapy hosted its Annual Irma Ruebling Distinguished Speaker Event virtually via Zoom on Thursday, March 25, 2021.

The Irma Ruebling Distinguished Speaker Series was the vision of Irma Ruebling, former chair of the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training. It was her goal to bring nationally renowned speakers to Saint Louis University to highlight ongoing research and important topics and to foster a dialogue with faculty, students, and guests about the importance of research in advancing our profession.

Saint Louis University Professor Dr. Gretchen Salsich hosted the event and acknowledged leadership in the Doisy College of Health Sciences for their ongoing support for physical therapy research. Dr. Salsich recognized Dr. Tricia Austin, interim Dean, Dr. Jesús García-Martínez, Associate Dean for Research, and Dr. Lisa Dorsey, interim Chair for the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training. Efforts to strengthen the research profile of the Doisy College of Health Sciences are central to the college’s strategic plan. Events like this inform, inspire, and connect us to research. The Department’s ongoing support of this event since its inception eighteen years ago has contributed to its growth and success.  

The Irma Ruebling Endowed Research Fund was established in 2006 to ensure the continued development of research activities fostering the growth of the profession, improvement of the health of patients and clients, and enhancement of the education of physical therapy students and practicing physical therapists. Two Program in Physical Therapy Faculty were recognized as the 2021 Irma Ruebling Endowed Research Fund Recipients. Dr. Chris Sebelski received funding to support her project titled “Evaluation of non-cognitive behaviors reflective of positive leaders in the clinical context”. Dr. Oluwatoyosi (Olu) Owoeye received funding to support his project titled “How Much is Too Much in Youth Team Sport? A Systematic Review”.  

The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley, professor and director of the Rehabilitation Science Ph.D. Program in the Physical Therapy Program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center. The title of her presentation was: “Building a Clinical Research Program: The View is Different from the Inside”. 

Following the keynote presentation, there was a question and answer session with clinicians, faculty, and students. Though it was held virtually this year, it was a memorable evening of inspiring discussion and special recognition of SLU PT faculty!

How Research Changes Lives

How Research Changes Lives

A Speaker Series Examining the Transformative Impact of Physical Therapy Research 

How Research Changes Lives is a two-part speaker series hosted by the SLU Program in Physical Therapy. Billikens Impacting the Future, an inaugural event sponsored by the SLU Physical Therapy Student Association, will raise funds for the Marquette Challenge for The Foundation for Physical Therapy Research. The Irma Ruebling Distinguished Lecture, in its 18th year, is the annual complimentary keynote speaker event hosted by the SLU Program in Physical Therapy.

SLU PT Faculty Publishes Research in Sports and Exercise Medicine and Sports Physical Therapy

Oluwatoyosi Owoeye, PhD, MS, PT from the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training published “Dissemination and implementation research in sports and exercise medicine and sports physical therapy: translating evidence to practice and policy” in the BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine Journal.

To read more about his research, visit https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/6/1/e000974

SLU PT Faculty Achieves Research in Sports Medicine

Oluwatoyosi Owoeye, Ph.D., of the Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, recently published an article, "Epidemiology of All-Complaint Injuries in Youth Basketball," in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports.  

To read the full research, visit https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sms.13813

SLU PT Faculty Member Accomplishes Research Publication in Sports Sciences

Hats off to SLU Program in Physical Therapy, Dr. Olu Owoeye, who recently published the article. "How much, how often, how well? Adherence to a neuromuscular training warm-up injury prevention program in youth basketball" in the Journal of Sports Sciences (of @BASESUK) late last month on June 26, 2020.

To read the full article, visit https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02640414.2020.1782578?scroll=top&needAccess=true

SLU PT Faculty Member Presents at the 5th International Congress on Soldier's Physical Performance

Hats off to SLU Program in Physical Therapy Faculty Member, Dr. Olu Owoeye, who made the headlines of the End-of-Academic-Year Edition of Professional Notes with his presentation “Injury Prevention in Sport: What Works and How is this Relevant to the Military” at the 5th International Congress on Soldier's Physical Performance ICSPP2020 Quebec City.

To read more, visit Saint Louis University's Newslink.