Best Practices: Protecting Young Athletes

Guest Bio: Michael Bergeron, PhD, FACSM

Michael F. Bergeron, Ph.D., FACSM is the Executive Director of the National Youth Sports Health & Safety Institute and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Sanford School of Medicine of the University of South Dakota at the Sanford USD Medical Center. He also has an appointment as a Senior Scientist in Sanford Children's Health Research Center. Internationally recognized for his research and leadership in exercise-heat stress and youth athletic health, Dr. Bergeron is a Fellow and past Trustee of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and is currently a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations Sports Medicine Advisory Committee. He is also a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the International Olympic Committee postgraduate Diploma Program in Sports Medicine. Dr. Bergeron serves as an Editorial Board member for the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism and Journal of Athletic Training. He also serves as a clinical and scientific consultant to the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) professional tour medical services.

Dr. Bergeron has worked with numerous youth, collegiate, and professional athletes on appropriately and safely enhancing athletic capacity and resilience by providing individualized and sport-specific training and nutrition/hydration guidance, with a particular emphasis on preparation, competition, and recovery strategies in the heat and helping athletes to avoid exertional heat illness and injury.