Tanenbaum Institute for Science in Sport (TISS): A framework for research excellence in high-performance sport science and sport medicine supporting athletes at all levels
“Sport unites us, inspires us and offers all people a path forward toward becoming their best selves.” These are the words of lead donor Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of the Larry and Judy Tanenbaum Family Foundation and Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. It is his Foundation's gift of $20 million that has made possible the creation of TISS, with aspirations to become one of the most influential and prominent research centres for sport science and sport medicine in the world.
The centre will bring together sport and exercise researchers at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, clinician scientists in sport medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and clinicians and researchers at Toronto’s Sinai Health to generate new knowledge and discoveries faster, and facilitate translating them into innovative interventions with the potential to impact the health, performance, and well-being of all athletes including high-performance athletes, world-class professional, non-professional and para-athletes, as well as those from diverse and underrepresented communities, and those striving to be successful in recreational sports.
“This centre is almost like a dream-come-true for those whose research interests focus on understanding physical and mental capabilities and limitations in sports,” says Ira Jacobs, the Interim Director of the Institute. “TISS will bridge sport science and sport medicine to inform, educate and innovate in a way that is not done now.”
TISS will catalyze the generation of new insights, innovative technologies and interventions for all athletes. Research topics to be addressed by TISS-supported researchers will range from athletes’ nutritional needs to team psychology to rehabilitation of athletic injuries. Other examples of important topics include how biomechanics—the study of the physics of movement—and wearable technologies can improve training and performance, how sports analytics can predict injury, recovery, athletic performance and how to determine when an athlete who has suffered a concussion can safely return to play.
For coaches, scouts and recruits in the sports community, the expected new knowledge that will come from TISS will facilitate an improved ability to predict athlete performance potential, and athlete longevity in a sport at a high-performing level. TISS has an important data science research component for the collection, analysis and integration sport science and sport medicine data from the research to be supported by TISS, leading to new data-driven insights to support better athlete and team health and wellness, safety and performance.