Dr. Kathryn Schneider

Kathryn Schneider is an Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist (Physiotherapist) at the Sport Injury Prevention Research Centre, Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on the prevention, detection and treatment of sport-related concussion. Her work has identified a large treatment effect using multimodal physiotherapy and vestibular rehabilitation, significant changes in cervical spine function following concussion in youth ice hockey players (2018 JOSPT Excellence in Research Award) and identified symptoms of dizziness, neck pain and headaches as risk factors for concussion in youth. She has led international multicentre multinational trials that have informed concussion prevention, detection and rehabilitation – leading to changes in clinical practice. Her research focuses on understanding best practices for concussion, and for minimizing the impact of dizziness, neck pain and headaches across multiple populations. She has over 143 peer reviewed publications. She has a passion for pragmatic research that informs optimization of care across ages and levels of sport and health – ultimately optimizing the health and well being of all.

Kathryn is a Clinical Specialist in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Manipulative Physiotherapists and has expertise and certification in vestibular rehabilitation. She was recognized by Avenue Magazine as “Top 40 Under 40” in 2012, was the recipient of the Vestibular Disorders Association (VEDA) Champion of Vestibular Medicine Award in 2015, Canadian Physiotherapy Association Centenary Medal of Distinction (recognized as one of the top 100 physiotherapists in Canada in the past 100 years) and received the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM) Presidential Medallion for her contributions to the field of sport medicine in Canada.

She is recognized as an international leader in concussion – holding leadership roles with the Concussion in Sport Group and International Consensus meetings over the past 115 years. Specifically, she has been an invited Expert Panelist, author on the consensus statement and lead author for systematic reviews evaluating the effects of treatment for the 4^th and 5^th International Consensus Conferences on Concussion in Sport, also as a Scientific Committee member and lead for the methodology informing the 5^th International Consensus Conferences on Concussion in Sport. A particular career highlight was serving as co-chair of the scientific committee, expert panel and co-lead author of the Amsterdam International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport, the outputs from the 6^th International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport which is one of the most highly cited manuscripts in the field – providing recommendations for clinical practice and used to inform concussion guidelines globally. https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/57/11/695

Invited speaking highlights include chairing the 6^th International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport (Amsterdam), International Olympic Committee (IOC) medical meetings at the Sochi, Rio, PyeongChang and Paris Olympic games, IOC Advanced Team Physician and Sport Physiotherapy Courses and Keynote talks at multiple International and National sport and health meetings. She has worked with the Coaching Association of Canada to develop up to date educational content for coaches across sport in the Making Headway course. https://coach.ca/module/nccp-making-head-way-sport. She also led the development of a Massive Open Online Course on Concussion at the University of Calgary in collaboration with her colleague Dr. Pierre Fremont (Universite Laval) which has engaged over 18,000 participants to date! https://kinesiology.ucalgary.ca/current-students/online-concussion-course

Her clinical practice focuses on the treatment of recreational to elite/professional athletes with ongoing symptoms following sport-related concussion. Over the past 12+ years, she has worked with many local, provincial and national sport organizations and health care teams to develop and implement evidence-based concussion protocols and processes. She is a member of the Federal Government Working Group on Concussion in Sport and is the co-lead of the integrated Knowledge Translation and Patient and Stakeholder engagement committee of the Canadian Concussion Network.

Areas of research:

• Concussion
• Prehabilitation
• Rehabilitation
• Sensorimotor function
• Performance
• Female athlete health and considerations

1. Sorek GH, Gagnon I, Schneider KJ, Chevignard M, Stern N, Fadida Y, Kaideron L, Shaklai S, Katz-Leurer M. Exploring the Feasibility of a Vestibular/oculomotor Caregiver-supervised Exercise Program in Children Post Moderate-severe Traumatic-Brain-Injury. Pediatric Physical Therapy 2026;38(1):68-76.
2. Eliason PH, Galarneau J-M, Martin C, Kolstad AT, Shill I, Babul S, Mrazik,M, Schneider KJ, Hagel BE, & Emery CA. Uncovering Factors Associated With Lower Extremity Injury Rates in Youth Ice Hockey Players. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;0(ja):1-26. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2025.13106
3. Jobin K, Campbell C, Schabrun SM, Schneider KJ, Smith A, & Debert, CT. The safety and feasibility of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with conservative treatment for patients with cervicogenic headaches: A double-blinded randomized control study protocol. Contemp Clin Trials Commun 2024;42:101370. doi: 10.1016/j.conctc.2024.101370 [published Online First: 20240919]
4. Jobin K, Smith A, Campbell C, Schabrun S, Galarneau JM, Schneider KJ, Debert CT. The Treatment of Cervicogenic Headache with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Exercise Therapy: A Randomized Control Trial Evaluating Functional Outcomes. NeuroRehabilitation;0(0):10538135251325384. doi: 10.1177/10538135251325384
5. Mercier LJ, McIntosh SJ, Burma JS, Batycky J, Joyce JM, Galarneau JM, Esser MJ, Schneider KJ, Smirl JD, Dukelow SP, Harris AD, Debert CT. Altered autonomic cardiovascular function in adults with persisting post-concussive symptoms and exercise intolerance. Physiological Reports 2025;13(11):e70378. doi: https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.70378
6. Mercier LJ, McIntosh SJ, Boucher C, Joyce JM, Batycky J, Galarneau JM, Esser MJ, Schneider KJ, Dukelow SP, Harris AD, Debert CT. Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Symptom Burden and Quality of Life in Adults With Persisting Post-concussive Symptoms: The ACTBI Randomized Controlled Trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2024 doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2024.10.002 [published Online First: 20241018]
7. Mercier LJ, McIntosh SJ, Boucher C, Joyce JM, Batycky J, Galarneau JM, Burma JS, Smirl JD, Esser MJ, Schneider KJ, Dukelow SP, Harris AD, Debert CT. Evaluating a 12-week aerobic exercise intervention in adults with persisting post-concussive symptoms. Front Neurol 2024;15:1482266. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1482266 [published Online First: 20241224]
8. Burma JS, Johnson NE, Oni IK, Lapointe AP, Debert CT, Schneider KJ, Dunn JF, Smirl JD. A multimodal neuroimaging study of cerebrovascular regulation: protocols and insights of combining electroencephalography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and physiological parameters. J Neural Eng 2025;22(1) doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ada4de [published Online First: 20250109]
9. Burma JS, Oni IK, Lapointe AP, Rattana S, Schneider KJ, Debert CT, Smirl JD, Dunn JF. Quantifying neurovascular coupling through a concurrent assessment of arterial, capillary, and neuronal activation in humans: A multimodal EEG-fNIRS-TCD investigation. NeuroImage 2024;302:120910. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120910
10. Crampton A, Langevin P, Schneider KJ, Grilli L, Chevignard M, Katz-Leurer M, Beauchamp MH, Debert CT, Gagnon IJ. Quantifying the Relationship Between Clinician-Administered Measures of Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex and Oculomotor Function and Patient-Reported Outcome After Pediatric Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. J Head Trauma Rehabil 2025 doi: 10.1097/htr.0000000000001021 [published Online First: 20250131]
11. Shepherd HA, Galarneau J-M, Neill M, Karmali S, Turcotte K, Williamson RA, Cowle S, Macpherson A, Reed N, Schneider KJ, Belton KL, Gagnon I, Black AM, Emery CA, Babul S. Concussion Awareness Training Tool for Youth: Impact on Concussion Knowledge, Beliefs, and Reporting Intentions. Health Education & Behavior 2024:10901981241263577. doi: 10.1177/10901981241263577
12. Lutz D, van den Berg C, Räisänen AM, Shill IJ, Kim J, Vaandering K, Hayden A, Pasanen K, Schneider KJ, Emery CA, Owoeye OBA. Best practices for the dissemination and implementation of neuromuscular training injury prevention warm-ups in youth team sport: a systematic review. Br J Sports Med 2024;58(11):615-25. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2023-106906 [published Online First: 20240528]
13. Register-Mihalik JK, Guskiewicz KM, Marshall SW, McCullock KL, Mihalik JP, Mrazik M, Murphy I, Naidu K, Ranapurwala SI, Schneider KJ, Gildner P, Salmon DM, Auton B, Bowman TG, Hall EE, Hynes LM, Jewell E, KEtcham CJ, Siler CW, McCrea MA. Symptom Exacerbation and Adverse Events During a Randomized Trial of Early-Stage Rehabilitation After Sport-Related Concussion: Safety Outcomes From the Active Rehab Study. J Athl Train 2024;59(12):1163-70. doi: 10.4085/1062-6050-0696.23
14. Sorek G, Gagnon I, Schneider K, Chevignard M, Stern N, Fadida Y, Kalderon L, Shaklai S, Katz-Leurer M. The role of vestibular function on the vestibulo-sympathetic reflex recovery among children following moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Clin Auton Res 2024;34(6):613-17. doi: 10.1007/s10286-024-01067-8 [published Online First: 20240925]
15. Carere J, Leggett B, Galarneau JM, Galea O, Eliason PH, Brassard P, Doyle-Baker PK, Debert CT, Schneider KJ, Yeates KO, Smirl JD, Emery CA. Consequences of adolescent sport-related concussion: exploring long-term cardiorespiratory fitness and adiposity. Ann Med 2024;56(1):2398718. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2398718 [published Online First: 20241203]
16. Frémont P, Langevin P, Schneider K. Le défi de l’évolution rapide des connaissances et des recommandations concernant les commotions cérébrales : est-ce qu’une formation en ligne ouverte à tous peut faire partie de la solution? Journal de Traumatologie du Sport 2024;41(3):235-38. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jts.2024.06.015
17. Schneider KJ, Leclerc S, Beauchamp MH, Audrit H, Fremont P, Sligon CA, Beaudoin C, Echemendia R, Davis GA, Patricios JS. Versions françaises des outils SCAT®: traduction ET adaptation culturelle. Journal de Traumatologie du Sport 2024;41(3):205-07. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jts.2024.07.008
18. Langevin P, Schneider KJ, Katz-Leurer M, Chevignard M, Frilli L, Crampton A, Gagnon I. Evolution of dizziness-related disability in children following concussion: a group-based trajectory analysis. Brain Injury:1-9. doi: 10.1080/02699052.2024.2393635
19. Eliason PH, Galarneau J-M, Babul S, Mrazik M, Bonfield S, Schneider KJ, Hagel BE, Emery CA. Safe2Play in youth ice hockey: injury profile and risk factors in a 5-year Canadian longitudinal cohort study. Annals of Medicine 2024;56(1):2385024. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2024.2385024
20. Leggett B, Eliason P, Sick S, Burma JS, Wong SK, Laperriere D, Goulet C, Fremont P, Russell K, Schneider KJ, Emery CA. Youth Preseason Performance on the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 Across Multiple Sports. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine 2024;34(3)
21. Graham RF, Eliason PH, Black AM, Sick S, Schneider GM, Galea OA, Emery CA, Schneider KJ. Preseason Measures of Cervical Spine Function, Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, Dynamic Balance, and Divided Attention in Youth Ice Hockey Players. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2024;54(3):190-200. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2023.11958