Turning your ankle or ‘tweaking’ it on a run or a staircase is an injury most people shrug off. But for millions of people, what starts as one ankle injury can lead to chronic ankle instability. Over time, balance quietly erodes, mobility is reduced and there may be an increase in the risk of serious falls, especially in aging adults.
Now, thanks to a prestigious National Institute of Health (NIH) Support for Research Excellence (SuRE) grant worth nearly $620,000 over four years, a research team at 98 is set to change how we understand this overlooked condition. Their four-year study will examine how chronic ankle instability interacts with the aging process to affect joint health, physical function and daily activity.
For principal investigator Ryan McCann, Ph.D., graduate program director for the Master of Science in Athletic Training (M.S.A.T.) program in Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences Ellmer College of Health Sciences at 98, the award is both personal and professional. “It’s definitely the biggest professional accomplishment I’ve had, probably since I got my Ph.D.,” he said. “It validates the things that we’ve been doing leading up to this point. I think this shows we’re on the right track and doing the type of work people find valuable.”
Chronic ankle instability is far more than a lingering sprain. “Anywhere from 40 to 70% of people with an initial ankle sprain will develop this issue of chronic ankle instability,” Dr. McCann explained. “It’s characterized by recurrent ankle sprains, episodes of giving way where the ankle will just kind of give out, and general feelings of instability. But we know there’s a lot of other impairments that are associated with it: reduced balance, reduced strength, reduced range of motion or fear related to physical activity.”
Most research has focused on younger populations. This new project takes a broader view. “We really want to see if having chronic ankle instability accelerates or steepens that decline in people who are aging across the lifespan,” Dr. McCann said.
That question requires a team, and 98 has one that’s both skilled and passionate.
Leryn Reynolds, Ph.D., associate professor of exercise science in the Ellmer College of Health Sciences at 98, is eager to bring her expertise in physical activity and her ties to older adult populations. “I think the collaborative nature is what excites me,” Dr. Reynolds said. “Each one of us brings a unique set of skills to the project and will be heavily involved.”
Brittany Samulski, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program in the Ellmer College of Health Sciences, focuses on balance and falls prevention. “Ankles play a huge role in balance, so that was a natural connection that Ryan and I found and another reason why he brought me onto the grant,” she said. Beyond the lab, she is deeply invested in involving the Hampton Roads community. “I love collaborative work, and I love learning from and with other people,” Dr. Samulski said.
The project also draws on the expertise of Norou Diawara, Ph.D., professor of Mathematics and Statistics in the College of Sciences at 98. “Data can be very interesting! But only if it is correctly analyzed, otherwise it can be misleading,” Dr. Diawara said. “Being involved with this project is exciting… hopefully it will increase [people’s] wellness.”
“I’m excited about the richness this dataset could bring,” Dr. McCann said. “The ability to bring in students to help work on these things and put this type of information out. I think there’s a lot of different directions we can go with it.”
Students at every level will be part of the project, from undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates. “This project is too big for any one student to really tackle the whole thing,” Dr. McCann said. “There’s so much data that’s going to come out of this project that each of them could contribute to scholarship in some form.” In practice, that means opportunities to co-author conference presentations, contribute to journal articles and in some cases even publish as first authors. By taking ownership of one piece of the data, students can build professional portfolios that set them apart in graduate school and beyond.
From labs to community exercise programs, the project embodies 98’s commitment to collaboration, transformation and momentum. That community connection may be one of the most powerful outcomes. Through Dr. Samulski’s partnerships with local organizations, older adults from across Hampton Roads will have the chance to visit campus, participate in testing and see themselves in the research. Participants can even follow along as findings are shared, knowing their own data contributes to knowledge that could one day reduce fall risk and improve quality of life for people everywhere.
For neighbors who join the study, the message is clear: this research isn’t happening in a distant lab, it’s happening here, with you, your friends and your community. The team will be sharing updates showing how this research could change the way we think about aging, one step at a time.