Dr. Stephen West

Dr. Stephen West is a postdoctoral associate in the Sport injury Prevention Research Centre. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Sport Science and Health at Dublin City University in Ireland. Stephen completed his PhD in 2019 at the University of Bath with a focus on injury epidemiology and training load management in professional rugby players. While completing his PhD, he was also the lead researcher on the Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project which is a collaboration between the governing bodies of professional rugby union in England (the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby) and the University of Bath. He has also worked at the Sports Surgery Clinic in Santry, Dublin, Ireland as well as the Sports Science Institute of South Africa in Cape Town. His research focuses on risk factors for injury in athletes and his work with SIPRC will focus on neuromuscular warm-up programs and other injury prevention strategies in youth rugby. 

Publications

1. Starling, L.T., McKay, C., Cross, M.J., Kemp, S.P.T., West, S.W. & Stokes, K.A. Prolonged restricted training, fixture congestion and player rotation: What the COVID-19 pandemic taught us about injury risk in professional collision sport. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2022.03.012.
2. Dane, K. Simms, K., Hendricks, S., West, S.W., Griffin, S., Nugent, F.J., Farrell, G., Mockler, D., Wilson, F. Physical and Technical Demands and Preparatory Strategies in Female Field Collision Sports: A Scoping Review. doi: 10.1055/a-1839-6040
3. West, S.W., Shill, I.J., Sutter, B., Geroge, J., Ainsworth, N., Wiley, J.P., Patricios, J., Emery, C.A. Caught on camera: a video assessment of suspected concussion and other injury events in women's Rugby union. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2022.07.008
4. Robertson, C., Williams, S., West, S.W., Starling, L., Kemp, S.P.T., Cross, M.J., Stokes, K. The influence of playing surface on match injury risk in men’s professional rugby union in England (2013-2019). DOI: 10.1111/sms.14226
5. Starling, L.T., McKay, C., Cross, M.J., Kemp, S.P.T., West, S.W. & Stokes, K.A. The influence of the COVID19-induced suspension of the 2019-20 England Premiership rugby season on match and training injuries. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. [In Press]
6. Williams, S., Robertson, C., Starling, L., McKay, C., West, S.W.,  Brown, J. & Stokes, K.A. Injuries in Elite Men’s Rugby Union: An updated (2012-2020) Meta-Analysis of 11,620 Match and Training Injuries. Sports Medicine. 2021. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01603-w.
7. West, S.W., Shill, I.J., Clermont, C., Pavlovic, N., Cairns, J., Seselja, B. Hancock, M.V., Roberts, S.P., Hendricks, S., Emery, C.A. Same name, same game, but is it different? An investigation of female rugby union match events in Canadian Varsity players. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541211051961
8. Shill, I., Raisanen, A., Black, A.M., van den Berg, C., McKay, C., Barden, C., West, S.W., Pasanen, K., Hagel, B.E. & Emery, C.A. Canadian high school rugby coaches readiness for an injury prevention strategy implementation: Evaluating a Train-the Coach workshop. Frontiers. 2021. DOI=10.3389/fspor.2021.672603   
9. West, S.W., Williams, S., Tierney, P., Batchelor, T., Cross, M., Kemp, S.P.T. & Stokes, KA. Training and match load in professional rugby union: How do contextual factors influence the training week? South African Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021. DOI:  10.17159/2078-516X/2021/v33i1a9509
10. West, S.W., Cross, M., Trewartha, G., Taylor, A., Brooks, J., Kemp, S.P.T., Locke, D., Ahmed, O. & Stokes, K.A. Trends in Match Concussion Incidence and Return-to-Play Time in Male Professional Rugby Union: A 16-season prospective cohort study. Brain Injury. 2021. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699052.2021.1972142
11. West, S.W., Shill, I.J., Clermont, C., Pavlovic, N., Cairns, J., Seselja, B., Hancock, M., Roberts, S.P., Hendricks, S., & Emery, C.A. Same name, same game, but is it different? An investigation of female rugby union match events in Canadian Varsity players. Submitted to International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching. [In Press]
12. Shill, I.J., West, S.W., Sick, S., Schneider, K., Hagel, B.E., Pasanen, K., Wiley, P., Emery, C.A., & Black, A.M. Injuries and concussions in Female High School Rugby: Prevention is worth a try. Submitted to Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine [In Press]
13. Williams, S., Robertson, C., Starling, L., McKay, C., West, S.W., Brown, J. & Stokes, K.A. Injuries in elite men’s Rugby Union: an updated (2012-2020) meta-analysis of 19,877 injury events. Sports Medicine. [In Press]
14. Stokes, K.A., Cross, M., Williams, S., McKay, C., Hagel, B.E., West, S.W., Roberts, S.P., Sant'Anna, R.T., Morrison, E. & Kemp, S. Padded Headgear does not Reduce the Incidence of Match Concussions in Professional Men's Rugby Union: A Case-control Study of 417 Cases. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021 (Online: Ahead of print).
15. West, S.W., Williams, S., Cazzola, D., Kemp, S.P.T., Cross, M.J. & Stokes, K.A. Training load and injury risk in elite Rugby Union: The largest investigation to date. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020. (Accepted: In Press).
16. West, S.W., Clubb, J., Torres-Ronda, L., Howells, D., Leng, E., Vescovi, J.D., Carmody, S., Posthumus, M., Dalen-Lorentsen, T. & Windt, J. More than a metric: How training load is used in elite sport management. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020.
17. West, S.W., Starling, L.T., Kemp, S.P.T., Williams, S., Cross, M., Taylor, A., Brooks, J.H.M. & Stokes, K.A. Trends in match injury risk in professional male rugby union- a 16-season review of 10851 match injuries in the English Premiership (2002-2019): The Professional Rugby Injury Surveillance Project. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020 (Online First). 
18. West, S., Williams, S., Kemp, S., Eager, R., Cross, M. & Stokes, K. Training load, injury burden and team success in Professional Rugby Union: Risk Versus Reward. Journal of Athletic Training. 2020 (Online: Ahead of print)
19. Stokes, K.A., Jones, B., Bennett, M., Close, G.L., Gill, N., Hull, J.H., Kasper, A.M. Kemp, S.P.T., Mellalieu, S.D., Peirce, N., Stewart, B., Wall, B.T., West, S.W. & Cross, M. Returning to play after prolonged training restrictions in professional collision sports. International Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020 (Online ahead of print).
20. West. S., Williams, S., Kemp, S., Cross, M., McKay, C., Fuller, C., Taylor, A., Brooks, J. & Stokes, K. Patterns of training volume and injury risk in elite rugby union: an analysis of 1.5 million hours of training exposure over 11 seasons. Journal of Sport Sciences. 2020: 38 (3): 238-247.
21. West, S., Williams, S., Kemp, S., Cross, M. & Stokes, K. Athlete Monitoring in Rugby Union: Is Heterogeneity in Data Capture holding us back? Sports. 2019; 7(5): 98-108.
22. Williams, S., West, S., Howells, D., Mobed. R., Kemp, S. & Stokes, K. Modelling the HRV response to training loads in elite rugby sevens. Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2018; 17 (3): 402-408.
23. Williams, S., West, S., Cross, M.J. & Stokes, K.A. Better way to determine the acute: chronic workload ratio? British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2017; 51: 209-210.

Book Chapter:

1. McKay, C.D. & West, S.W. Stress, coping and the missing link in training load: Camel, meet straw. In The Mental Impact of Sports Injury by Carly McKay. Routledge, 2021. 

Published Conference Abstracts

1. West, S.W., Shill, I.J. & Emery, C.A. Pivoting in a pandemic: opportunities for injury surveillance using video analysis in sport. BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine. 2022. Accepted at: SportsKongres
2. West, S.W., Pankow, M.P., Gibson, E., Eliason, P.H., Black, A.M. & Emery, C.A. Injuries in Canadian high school boys collision sports: Insights across football, ice hockey, lacrosse and rugby. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021. [In Press]. Accepted at: International Olympic Committee World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport 2021.
3. West, S.W., Shill, I.J., Patricios, J., Ainsworth, N., Everett, A., George, J., Sutter, B., Wiley, P., & Emery, C.A. Narrowing the gender gap in rugby injury epidemiology: A novel video-analysis study in the women’s game. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2021. [In Press]. Accepted at: International Olympic Committee World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport 2021.
4. West, S.W., Williams, S., Cazzola, D., Cross, M., Kemp, S.P.T. & Stokes, K.A. Training load and other risk factors for soft tissue injury risk in professional rugby union: a 13 team, 2-season study of 383 injuries. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020; 54 (Suppl 1), A45. Accepted at: International Olympic Committee World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport 2021.
5. West, S.W., Williams, S., Cazzola, D., Cross, M., Kemp, S.P.T. & Stokes, K.A. The acute: chronic workload ratio: Why one size does not fit all. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2020; 54 (Suppl 1), A62. Accepted at: International Olympic Committee World Conference on Prevention of Injury and Illness in Sport 2021.