Dr Gardner will endeavour to provide an overview of the current research being conducted within the field of sports related concussion (neuropsychological assessment, neuroimaging, genetic testing etc.), with discussion surrounding its clinical application. There will also be an emphasis on the potential long-term consequences of concussive injury (i.e. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) and the current discussion around this issue.

Andrew Gardner completed his Bachelor of Psychology with 1st class Honours at UNE in 2005 and subsequently completed a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology) at Macquarie University in 2009. He currently works as a Clinical Neuropsychologist in the Neuropsychiarty Service with Hunter New England Health in Newcastle. His doctoral dissertation on sports-related concussion won the USA's National Academy of Neuropsychology's most outstanding dissertation of the year award last year, the first recipient of this prestigious award who studied outside of the USA.

Sports-related concussion has always been Dr Gardner's research focus and he established and managed the sports concussion clinic at Macquarie University during his post-doctoral studies. He recently returned from a two month study trip to Boston visiting Brigham & Women's Hospital to gain further knowledge in neuroimaging data acquisition and post-processing techniques. He also visited Boston University's Centre for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, the current world leaders in CTE research. Dr Gardner is currently conducting a study looking at the long-term consequences of sports-related concussion on professional contact sports athletes and hopes to establish himself as a world-leader in sports-related concussion research.

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