Nicholas J Cecchi

Chief Science and Product Officer at Savior Brain, Inc. I care about protecting athlete brains. Stanford BioE PhD '24. Avid fan of the Anaheim Ducks. ✝️

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Like many contact sports, #waterpolo has head impacts and #concussion, too. Very proud to have explored this in depth with @UCIEngineering @UCIBioSci @UCIrvineSOM. Our recent publications on this topic⬇️

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Excited to share more about this at the @BMESociety Annual Meeting this month!

[ABME @ABMEjournal]

Padded Helmet Shell Covers in American Football: A Comprehensive Laboratory Evaluation with Preliminary On-Field Findings @bioe_stanford @uscbme @StanfordNsurg @Stanford_Neuro @Dukeneurosurg @StanfordRad @StanfordEng @BMESociety @SpringerNature

Link: https://t.co/vHz8ueVZFp

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Our first peer-reviewed demo of SoftShox tech improving impact safety in a physical helmet prototype. SoftShox improved helmet performance by ~20% as a replacement for helmet comfort pads or in an enhanced chinstrap. The future of helmets is liquid.

https://t.co/ECmpKR6w9g

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Thanks @NSF for the opportunity to share about new helmet and concussion research from the Camarillo Lab @StanfordEng and some past research from @UCIBioSci @UCIEngineering

[U.S. National Science Foundation @NSF]

Discover how one young water polo player's experience led him down a path of groundbreaking research, fueled by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, into brain injury.

From a pivotal study that sparked rule changes to innovative methods for assessing the impact of hits and collisions in sports, join us as we explore Nicholas Cecchi's journey to transform sports safety in the latest episode of NSF's Discovery Files 🎙️: https://t.co/kZsRSkFC79

[Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. @ChrisNowinski1]

Eye-opening case report of successful psychiatric management of a 52 y/o former NFL player w/suicidal behavior, cognitive impairment, paranoia, hallucinations, mild parkinsonism, & suspected CTE. An important window of the struggle of players & families. https://t.co/3dy1RREQm9

[New York Post @nypost]

Radical football helmet design may prevent concussions: Stanford study https://t.co/mcYlwfgXXb

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Interested in the latest and greatest #helmet tech? See our new paper in @FrontBioeng, where we use FE modeling to demonstrate the safety performance of an American football helmet featuring liquid shock absorbers. #concussion

@StanfordEng @StanfordMed

https://t.co/CoKJ5cQ1nc

[Stanford Medicine @StanfordMed]

Football players are particularly prone to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a type of cognitive and mental decline caused by the head pounding they repeatedly receive on the field. Do padded helmet covers help?

#football #neurobiology @StanfordEng
https://t.co/eq0fyoFsgV

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@AggressivelyHum @ChrisNowinski1 Hi Steve, I'm the lead author of the Guardian Cap research study here. I also led design and testing efforts for a rough prototype of the concept you are describing back in 2019. Check it out here and reach out if you've got questions. Seems promising!

https://t.co/JtPwOPWb8t

[Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. @ChrisNowinski1]

Stanford study on Guardian Caps, which the NFL has embraced, finds both benefits & risks, as well as a big surprise:
"We don't think it's the padding that's providing most of the protection; we think it's the sliding of the cap along the helmet's surface." https://t.co/BeatMo6fAY

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Curious about how new helmet tech performs in American football? We did a lab + field study on padded helmet shell covers: what you see in lab tests isn't always immediately evident on the field! More to be done...

@ABMEjournal @StanfordEng @StanfordMed

https://t.co/csaZkGJcAD

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

Proud to have my first PhD paper at @StanfordBioE @StanfordEng selected as one of this year’s Athanasiou award winners! It’s an honor to see our group’s work recognized alongside other influential papers from @ABMEjournal!

[ABME @ABMEjournal]

We proudly present all previous and the current four Athanasiou student and post-doc winners over the last five years.

The Athanasiou collection is online at https://t.co/bg20p63FL9

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@christinebaugh @prof_goldberg @bachyns Thanks for sharing! agreed on 2nd sentence 😉 I only share considering personal experience replicating and finding similar results as theirs. Nonetheless, lab tests need to be backed by data from field use, something the research desperately lacks. Agree, tech can only go so far

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@christinebaugh Agreed that reducing number of impacts is likely more effective strategy though!

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@christinebaugh NOCSAE drop tests and metrics based on linear acceleration aren’t the best indicator for helmet efficacy against brain injury. Suggest reading this paper and interpreting these results, these are the results tied to the NFL: https://t.co/1gqmUtCXgj

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@jamesgraham07 @USAWP @USAWPReferees @NCAA_Water_Polo Fully agree and hope this gets approved. Works great in ice hockey, call is made when defending team gains possession or at next stoppage of play. Right now the inconsistency can completely disrupt the flow of a game from coach, player, and fan perspective.

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@ISEA_Journal @eggeliu

[Allan Walsh🏒 @walsha]

Their is a raging problem in the NHL and the silence among those complicit is deadly. https://t.co/RtzyvkONdf

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

First paper as a PhD student @StanfordEng! We use the Stanford Instrumented Mouthguard to quantify magnitude of HS football head impacts. Impact direction and player position associated with magnitude; concussion history, helmet, HS skill level were not https://t.co/YiZFvH9fgy

[Rick Westhead @rwesthead]

"Sometimes it's hard to be around the kids, just because I'm so sensitive to light and sound. I'm constantly tired and I get angry easily."

Nilsson one of many struggling with the after effects of repeated brain injuries. Concussions continue to be an unfortunate NHL storyline.

[Nicholas J Cecchi @nick_cecchi]

@ThayneMuncePhD @jaclyn_caccese @MSSEonline Incredible work, thank you for this thread!