HITSS-ND is considered Phase Two of the Independent Notre Dame Footballers’ Medical Research Project. HITSS-ND an extension of the Head Impact & Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS) specifically for former Notre Dame football players age 40 or older.

Phase One was launched as the Independent Notre Dame Footballers’ Medical Research Project with an initial group of 216 former Notre Dame football players from the 1964-1980 seasons. A summary will be posted here Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

The Head Impact and Trauma Surveillance Study (HITSS) is an exciting new, national research study aimed at answering important questions about brain health risks in individuals who played soccer or tackle football at any level -- youth, high school, collegiate, and/or elite/professional.

HITSS is funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health and is one of the largest research projects to date examining the long-term consequences of repetitive head impacts experienced by former contact/collision sport athletes.

Anyone age 40 or older who played football at the University of Notre Dame.

If I already participated in Phase One, can I enroll in HITSS-ND? Yes!

If I did not participate in Phase One, can I still enroll in HITSS-ND? Yes, as long as you are 40 or older and played football at Notre Dame.

Any individual who is currently age 40 or older and who participated in organized  soccer or tackle football at any level - youth, high school, collegiate, adult recreational, elite, and/or professional – can join HITSS. If you did not play football at Notre Dame and are interested in joining HITSS, please click here.