UW-Madison’s David Bell on Tuesday received the 2017 New Investigator Award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Research and Education Foundation. Bell was recognized at the NATA Clinical Symposia in Houston.
The New Investigator Award, according to the foundation’s website, “recognizes a researcher who is likely to continue to make significant contributions to the body of knowledge in athletic training and health care.”
Bell is an assistant professor with the Department of Kinesiology’s Athletic Training Program and the director of the Wisconsin Injury in Sport Laboratory (WISL).
In recent years, Bell and colleagues have conducted a range of studies examining the prevention of lower extremity injuries, with a special focus on knee injuries. In 2016, Bell and researchers from across campus produced a groundbreaking study examining whether or not more young people are focusing their efforts on excelling at a single sport, instead of playing a variety through the seasons. This report, published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, was titled, “Prevalence of Sport Specialization in High School Athletics.”
In addition, Bell was the lead author this past fall of a new study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, which is the American College of Sports Medicine’sflagship monthly journal. The report, “Hip Strength in Patients with Quadriceps Strength Deficits after ACL Reconstruction,” examined differences in lower extremity strength in individuals with ACL reconstruction with differing levels of quadriceps strength.