Research at the Fight Medicine Research Institute

Our research begins with the medical needs of fighters. We examine existing evidence, develop research questions and protocols, and build work that can be assessed through its methods, records and findings. Current activity includes a maintained research library, original selected-paper appraisals and two documented program workplans. Further studies require the scientific, ethics and institutional authorization set out in our policies.

A boxer falls backward into the ropes as his opponent stands over him with gloves raised.
A knockdown during a professional boxing bout.Photograph supplied to Fight Medicine Research Institute. Resized. Full credit.

Where the work is kept

Current work

Current workplans address standardized ringside head-trauma assessment and long-term neurological health, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy research. These workplans describe current activity within the Fight Medicine Research Institute’s wider mission.

  1. Standardized ringside head-trauma assessment

    This program asks what a head-trauma assessment at ringside should contain, who can carry it out reliably in the minutes after a bout, and how well it identifies the fighters who need further care.

    4 library records, 1 evidence appraisal

  2. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

    This program asks what years of head impacts in sparring and competition do to the brain, what can be measured while a fighter is still competing, and what the evidence can and cannot tell an individual fighter.

    12 library records, 1 evidence appraisal

Two professional boxers at close range against red ring ropes. One, in silver trunks marked Jones Jr., covers up behind raised gloves while the other, in black and red trunks marked Trinidad, leans in to punch.
Professional boxingFelix Trinidad throws a punch at Roy Jones Jr. during a professional boxing bout.Photo: “JonesvsTrinidad” by mborowick. CC BY 2.0. Cropped and resized. Full credit.
Two mixed martial artists trade strikes at the center of an eight-sided cage, seen from above, with a referee inside the cage, camera operators at its edge and a seated crowd around it.
Professional MMAClay Guida and Marcus Aurelio at UFC 74.Photo: “UFC 74 Respect Bout” by Lee Brimelow. CC BY 2.0. Cropped and resized. Full credit.
Two fighters without gloves, their hands wrapped in gauze, trade strikes at close range in a roped ring under a bamboo-framed roof. Both are marked with blood, and a crowd watches behind them.
LethweiSoe Lin Oo of Myanmar against a fighter from Thailand during a Lethwei bout in Ye, Myanmar, 8 February 2020. Lethwei is fought under its own rules. It is a different ruleset from BKFC and BKB bare-knuckle boxing.Photo: “Lethwei fight in Myanmar” by Lethwei Master. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and resized. Full credit.
Two women mixed martial artists exchange strikes in a cage. One, in a red patterned outfit, reaches forward as the other, in a blue top, punches.
Mixed martial artsSarah Kaufman and Megumi Yabushita during their MMA bout at AFC 5.Photo: “Kaufman vs Yabushita AFC5” by The Photography Elf. CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized. Full credit.

Research work

  • Evidence appraisals3 selected-paper appraisals: the question, the design, the findings and a methodological appraisal of one source each.
  • Research Library35 catalogued sources with original summaries, populations, rights and citation files.
  • Fighter Health9 topic pages setting out what the sources report and where the evidence stops.
  • Research prioritiesSix questions the Fight Medicine Research Institute wants answered, from fight stoppage to life after competition.
  • PublicationsWork produced by the Fight Medicine Research Institute, and how Fight Medicine Research Institute research is submitted and credited.

Methods and project workflow

Every project follows the same sequence under the Operating Charter:

  1. a written concept;
  2. a protocol and resource plan;
  3. independent scientific review by at least two reviewers outside the study team;
  4. the applicable written ethics determination;
  5. data, security and safety readiness;
  6. institutional authorization, recorded by the Institute Director;
  7. conduct and monitoring;
  8. analysis;
  9. independent editorial or journal review;
  10. publication and preservation.

The rules are in the Operating Charter, O-06, Scientific Review and Project Authorization and Evidence-review quality, P-05. The project register lists authorized studies.