Ready or not, America is gradually reopening. When and how community sports join in is a topic that will play out in the coming weeks and months. How to return will be shaped by what local and state authorities allow, what leading sport and public health bodies recommend, what liability risks exist, and what parents are willing to accept for their kids to play again. Project Play hosted a discussion with experts on return to play.
SPEAKERS
DR. JILL DAUGHERTY
EPIDEMIOLOGIST, DIVISION OF INJURY PREVENTION
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC)
Jill Daugherty, PhD is a CDC epidemiologist who is currently serving on CDC’s COVID-19 response task force, working on the community guidance development team. As a member of the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Team in the Division of Injury Prevention (DIP), her work focuses on understanding the public health burden of and sociodemographic disparities in TBI.
She began her career at CDC as a survey researcher at the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in Hyattsville, Maryland, working on the National Survey of Family Growth. After three years at NCHS she transferred to DIP in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Daugherty received a bachelor of science degree in biobehavioral health from Penn State University and a master of public health and doctorate in sociology from Emory University. She has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and government reports.
DR. JONATHAN FINNOFF
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
U.S. OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
Dr. Finnoff serves as the Chief Medical Officer at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), where he is responsible for setting and implementing the USOPC’s strategic direction for promoting holistic athlete well-being – including physical and mental health – in ways that directly improve Team USA athletes’ day-to-day lives, on and off the field of play. He authored the USOPC guidance on return to training and events.
Finnoff joined the USOPC in March 2020 after serving as medical director for the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in Minneapolis, where he served as a team physician for the Minnesota Timberwolves NBA and Lynx WNBA teams. A former professional athlete, he has also served as a team physician for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association since 2003, specializing as the head team physician for the U.S. Nordic Combined Ski Team during which time he accompanied Team USA to the Olympic Winter Games in 2014 and 2018.
Finnoff earned a Bachelor of Arts from University of Colorado, Boulder, and a doctorate of osteopathic medicine from the University of New England. He specializes in and has published original research related to sports and musculoskeletal medicine with an emphasis on diagnostic and interventional ultrasound procedures, regenerative medicine, sport concussions, and injury risk and prevention.
LAUREN SAUER
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS, OFFICE OF CRITICAL EVENT PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Lauren Sauer is the director of Operations with the Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR). She is a leader in COVID-19 preparedness at Johns Hopkins and an expert on the impact of infectious disease outbreaks on the healthcare infrastructure.
She is also a research associate in the Department of Emergency Medicine and a doctoral candidate in health and public policy in the Johns Hopkins Department of Health Policy and Management, where she studies quality of aid in response to disasters and the effects of disasters on health care infrastructure. She joined the department in 2005 and became a research faculty member in 2011. Sauer is also the program manager for the National Center for the Study of Preparedness and Catastrophic Event Response (PACER), a Department of Homeland Security Emeritus Center of Excellence. She is the current chair for the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine’s Disaster Interest Group and the co-director of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine disaster course.
STEVEN BANK
VICE DEAN AND PAUL HASTINGS PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS LAW
UCLA SCHOOL OF LAW
Steven Bank is Vice Dean for Curricular and Academic Affairs and Paul Hastings Professor of Business Law at UCLA School of Law. He is an expert in liability issues around organized and professional sports.
He was the Faculty Director of the Lowell Milken Institute for Business Law and Policy from 2013 through 2015, Vice Dean of UCLA School of Law from 2007 to 2013, and faculty director of UCLA School of Law's Program in Business Law and Policy from 2005 to 2007. Professor Bank's primary area of research generally explores the taxation of business entities through the lens of legal and business history. Professor Bank also is a frequent commentator on soccer law issues, applying his business and tax experience as a legal affairs contributor to the American Soccer Now website and in other publications. He explores these issues in more depth in his course on International and Comparative Sports Law as well as his Perspectives seminar on Law, Lawyering, and the Beautiful Game.