Dr. Brooks is a lifelong athlete turned researcher, passionate about making sports safer—especially for youth athletes. A former varsity football player, he knows firsthand the toll head impacts can take. His experiences on the field—both his own and those of his teammates—sparked a career focused on protecting the most important asset we all have: our brains.

 

Now a postdoctoral researcher at Brock University and a sessional instructor at Western University, Dr. Brooks studies head impact biomechanics and exposure in sports, with a focus on reducing head impact exposure while preserving the heart and integrity of the games athletes love. His doctoral research examined the effects of repetitive head impacts in varsity football, with a key takeaway: every hit matters when it comes to brain health.

 

His current research explores head impact exposure in non-helmeted, non-contact sports like wrestling and flag football, using instrumented mouthguards to monitor head kinematics. He is also investigating the mental health factors that influence injury risk and athletes' perceptions of injury.

 

Dr. Brooks has worked on various injury surveillance and sport safety initiatives, including the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. Football project with Concussion Legacy Foundation, which evaluated the impact of rule changes on head impact exposure in high school football. His mission is to help shift the culture of sports, showing that true toughness lies not in playing through a head injury but in respecting yourself, your opponents, and the game.

 

Through his work, Dr. Brooks hopes to inspire athletes to appreciate the power of their own brains and to embrace changes—like safer rules and smarter play—that protect competitors at all levels.