Analyzing Adolescent ACLs
Summer Research Fellowship allows doctoral candidate to work with teens on ACL injuries
Summer Research Fellowship allows doctoral candidate to work with teens on ACL injuries
Courtney Chaaban ’11 is a PhD candidate within the Human Movement Science Curriculum — a joint program offered by the Department of Allied Health Sciences, UNC School of Medicine, and the Department of Exercise and Sport Science within the College of Arts & Sciences. She is the recipient of the Tom and Karen Sox Summer Research Fellowship, which will allow her to continue researching adolescent anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and treatment.
When studying at Carolina as an undergraduate, Chaaban tore her own ACL in her first year doing gymnastics.
Chaaban commented, “I had great athletic trainers and physical therapists that I worked with but still had a really hard time getting back. I ultimately decided to give up gymnastics, but I became interested through the care that I had received.”
In a Q&A with Carolina Graduate Magazine, Chaaban emphasized that her Summer Research Fellowship not only allowed her to focus solely on her research project throughout the summer, but also allowed her to work with her research participants when they have the most free time.
“The good news for me in doing research on adolescents is that they have the most free time during the summer,” said Chaaban. “So, in terms of just being able to recruit participants, it’s very helpful to have dedicated research time to focus on my project while my participants are most available. It also gives me time to focus on my project without other commitments like teaching which I’ve done every other summer.”
