At-Risk Student-Athletes and Academic Achievement: Experiences of Successful and Unsuccessful First Year Collegiate Football Players

The academic development of collegiate football players has become a concern in higher education during recent years (Knight Commission, 2010; LaForge & Hodge, 2011; NCAA, 2009). The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain insight into the first semester experiences of academically successful and unsuccessful first year collegiate football players. In particular, this study attempted to identify the variables that academically successful and unsuccessful football players perceived to have impacted their academic performance during their first semester. An intensity sample of Division I freshman football players who performed well academically during the Fall 2010 semester ( n=6) and a sample of Division I freshman football players who did not perform well academically during the Fall 2010 semester (n=6) were interviewed for this study. Emergent themes that arose from the data analysis for the successful student-athlete group included: academic motivation, facilitators of academic success, time management, academic preparation, limited involvement, and academic skills. For the academically unsuccessful student-athlete group the relevant themes included: academic motivation, barriers to academic success, time management, academic preparation, limited involvement, and lack of autonomy. The findings from this study provide insight into potential factors that may be useful in identifying student-athletes at risk for academic problems and for designing interventions to address academic performance

Mapping adipose and muscle tissue expression quantitative trait loci in African Americans to identify genes for type 2 diabetes and obesity

Relative to European Americans, type 2 diabetes (T2D) is more prevalent in African Americans (AAs). Genetic variation may modulate transcript abundance in insulin-responsive tissues and contribute to risk; yet published studies identifying expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in African ancestry populations are restricted to blood cells. This study aims to develop a map of genetically regulated transcripts expressed in tissues important for glucose homeostasis in AAs, critical for identifying the genetic etiology of T2D and related traits. Quantitative measures of adipose and muscle gene expression, and genotypic data were integrated in 260 non-diabetic AAs to identify expression regulatory variants. Their roles in genetic susceptibility to T2D, and related metabolic phenotypes were evaluated by mining GWAS datasets. eQTL analysis identified 1,971 and 2,078 cis-eGenes in adipose and muscle, respectively. Cis-eQTLs for 885 transcripts including top cis-eGenes CHURC1, USMG5, and ERAP2, were identified in both tissues. 62.1% of top cis-eSNPs were within ±50kb of transcription start sites and cis-eGenes were enriched for mitochondrial transcripts. Mining GWAS databases revealed association of cis-eSNPs for more than 50 genes with T2D (e.g. PIK3C2A, RBMS1, UFSP1), gluco-metabolic phenotypes, (e.g. INPP5E, SNX17, ERAP2, FN3KRP), and obesity (e.g. POMC, CPEB4). Integration of GWAS meta-analysis data from AA cohorts revealed the most significant association for cis-eSNPs of ATP5SL and MCCC1 genes, with T2D and BMI, respectively. This study developed the first comprehensive map of adipose and muscle tissue eQTLs in AAs (publically accessible at https://mdsetaa.phs.wakehealth.edu) and identified genetically-regulated transcripts for delineating genetic causes of T2D, and related metabolic phenotypes