Professional soccer player Brandi Chastain to donate her brain to BU
She is going to donate it for C.T.E research
From shooting the winning goal in the 1999 World Cup final, to proudly helping with very important brain trauma research. Brandi Chastain, retired professional soccer player, agreed in an interview with The New York Times that she would donate her brain to researchers at Boston University.
Chastain played soccer professionally for about 40 years, and in her current retirement, coaches her son’s soccer team.
The Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center (BU ADC) is partnered with the CTE Center, which was established in 1996,” as one of 29 centers in the US funded by the National Institutes of Health to advance research on Alzheimer’s disease and related conditions” according to the website.
C.T.E, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy is a degenerative disease found frequently in athletes, caused by repetitive concussions, and subconcussive head hits. C.T.E is common among football players and boxers, although there have not been confirmed cases among female athletes.
The CTE Center created a Brain Donation Registry in 2008 with a list of athletes who have pledged to donate their brains to research, last updated in September 2009.
Brandi Chastain, after having done so much for the US National team, including scoring the winning goal against China in the 1999 World Cup final said, ” it feels like my responsibility- but not in a burdensome way” when asked about her decision to donate.
Chastain will be among only seven previous women that were examined by BU’s CTE Center, and the 300 other people who donated their brains to further C.T.E research.