Change of Direction After ACL Injury

Matt Taberner

Matt Taberner is a sports scientist and strength and conditioning specialist. Previously he has worked with Everton Football Club and Aston Villa Football Club serving in the role as sports scientist. He graduated from the University of Northampton (England) in 2006 with a First-Class Honours degree in sort and exercise science. He then went on to earn a master of science degree in sports nutrition from Loughborough University in 2007. More recently, he completed a professional doctorate in applied sport and exercise science (DExercSci) from Liverpool John Moores University (England), with his research nominated for the prestigious BJSM PhD academy awards. He also holds both the CSCS and RSCC*D with the NSCA, alongside the British Association of Sport & Exercise Science (BASES) High Performance Sport accreditation. He has published a number of high impact research articles within the BJSM, Aspetar Sports Medicine Journal, BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, Science and Medicine in Football and the NSCA Strength and Conditioning Journal. He is recognized for his impact on physical preparation and return-to-sport after injury. He is also the creator of the return-to-sport framework — the ‘control-chaos continuum.’

Amelia (Amy) Arundale, PT, PhD, DPT, SCS

Amy Arundale is a physical therapist and researcher. Originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, she received her Bachelor’s Degree with honors from Haverford College. Gaining both soccer playing and coaching experience throughout college, she spent a year as the William Penn Fellow and Head of Women’s Football (soccer) at the Chigwell School, in London. Amy completed her DPT at Duke University and throughout gained experience working at multiple soccer clubs in the US and Norway. Amy applied this experience working at Balance Physical Therapy providing physical therapy for the Capitol Area Soccer Club (now North Carolina F.C. Youth) and the U23 Carolina Railhawks. In 2013, Amy moved to Newark, Delaware to pursue a PhD under Dr. Lynn Snyder-Mackler. Amy’s dissertation examined primary and secondary ACL injury prevention as well as career length and return to performance in soccer players. After a short post-doc in Linköping, Sweden, Amy spent three years at the Brooklyn Nets as a physical therapist and biomechanist as well as The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System as a visiting scientist. Today, Amy works as a physical therapist at Red Bull’s Athlete Performance Center in Thalgau, Austria. Working with soccer players as well as athletes across Red Bull’s vast athletic disciplines, she also presents and teaches frequently on topics related to return to sport and performance, ACL rehabilitation, on-field/court rehabilitation particularly related to motor learning, and tailoring rehabilitation to the demands of an athlete. Outside of work, Amy plays Australian Rules Football for the Munich Kangaroos, the New York Magpies and the USAFL Freedom (the US National Team). 

Meredith Chaput, PT, DPT, OCS 

Meredith Chaput is an Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy in the School of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences. Chaput completed her undergraduate education in Exercise Science at the University of Minnesota Duluth and her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at Creighton University. After completing her doctoral training, she completed a post-professional residency in Sports Physical Therapy at Vanderbilt Orthopaedics Nashville and Belmont University and is a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy. Currently, Chaput co-directs the CNSlab in conjunction with Drs. Matt Stock and Grant Norte within the Institute of Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Sciences.  Chaput’s research investigates compensatory nervous system plasticity after lower extremity musculoskeletal injury with the goal to develop neurotherapeutic interventions for orthopedic rehabilitation. Her research integrates functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and laboratory metrics of functional performance and visual-cognition.

York-Peter Klöppel

York-Peter Klöppel currently helps elite level athletes to reach their full potential through innovative mental performance methods. In his role as Head of Mental Performance at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center, he has conceptualised and implemented an individualized, athlete-centred and holistic approach for the service provision for athletes from over 200 different sport disciplines. York completed his educational and professional training in different locations and cultures and benefits from personal experiences in international level sports. His PhD thesis focuses on the application of Virtual Reality in psychological training in sport and the appropriate use of new technologies also plays an important role in his daily work with athletes.

Paul Miller

Paul Miller, currently works as a sports scientist in the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center. In the Mental Performance Team, he forms the link between mental performance and sports science and is therefore particularly active in the field of neurocognitive training to accelerate athletes' performance/rehabilitation. After his graduation he worked as a researcher at the University of Freiburg in the field of human movement science doing research projects on change-of-direction movements and athletic footwear development. Using innovative technology he combines the two worlds of neurocognitive training and human movement science to strengthen the interdisciplinary approach to rehabilitation and athlete development.

Nicole Surdyka, PT, DPT

Nicole is the Lead Physical Therapist at the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center in Santa Monica, CA where she works with elite athletes in various action and extreme sports. Prior to joining Red Bull, she was the Rehab Director for OL Reign, a professional soccer team in the National Women's Soccer League. She specializes in translating research into clinical practice, and utilizing field-based rehabilitation to prepare an athlete to return to sport. Outside of clinical practice, Nicole has experience teaching continuing education courses including Managing the [Un]Injured Soccer Player and Ethical Return to Sport Decision Making, and has presented at national and international conferences.

Steph Allen

Steph Allen has been a practicing physical therapist since 2014 and has been at Boston Physical Therapy & Wellness for the past 4 years.   She specializes in, and absolutely loves ACL rehab in all its shapes and forms and has recently started her own virtual coaching business, ACLResolve.  Which  is designed specifically for individuals who are navigating through an ACL injury. Steph is also the co-founder of CALU, a mentorship and continuing education platform for students and new graduates within the musculoskeletal rehab realm. She is passionate about continuing education and demanding a higher standard of care in the musculoskeletal rehab industry.