Brain Health Fund supports major new research project

The Rugby League Cares Brain Health Fund has agreed to support a significant new research project in partnership with Leeds Beckett University, which will increase knowledge around brain health risk factors in current and former players, focusing on identifying modifiable risk factors to support players in mid and later life. 

The PROTECT study (Player Risk Observation, Testing and Early-Care Targeting) will also involve collaboration with the University of Sydney and the University of Leeds. 

The investment will be accompanied by continued emphasis on the Brain Health Fund’s existing partnership with Dementia UK in recognition of the potential impact on current and former players of the publicity around the ongoing legal case related to head contact in Rugby League and other sports. 

The trustees of the Brain Health Fund have also made a smaller grant to Wakefield Trinity’s Past Players Association to support the breakfast clubs they have introduced to provide opportunities for social connection for former players with shared memories and experiences. 

The PROTECT study will screen higher risk current players for modifiable brain health risk factors, track players into retirement and develop a preventative programme for risk factors. 

Over four years from 2026-2029, it will involve the screening of at least 150 players, and alongside that the design of a preventative programme to reduce the risk for known dementia risk factors for players approaching or following retirement. 

Professor Ben Jones, the RFL’s Head of Performance Science and Medicine, and Professor at Leeds Beckett University, said: 
“In a short period of time, the Brain Health Fund?has supported a number of important research initiatives. The focus has been on funding pilot studies, which can then progress into large-scale research projects, which are required to tackle the complexity of brain health research. 

“This has included the pilot testing for the Traumatic Brain Injury - Threshold Study (TBI-TS), which is now a large-scale Medical Research Council funded project, aimed at establishing brain injury thresholds based on biological markers and instrumented mouthguard data, for the first time in the world. 

“The funding of the PROTECT project by the Brain Health Fund is also a significant step in developing our understanding of how we can best care for players. We know each player will have a different risk profile based on in-career and post-career factors, and we want to find out how we can modify this. The investment in the PROTECT project strengthens Rugby League’s partnership with Leeds Beckett University, in addition to accessing world-leaders in this area, including Professor Andrew Gardner from University of Sydney.” 

In 2025, the Brain Health Fund supported a pilot study with Leeds Rhinos, whereby small capillary blood samples were taken from players before and after a match, and then analysed alongside instrumented mouthguard data, to identify any head impact threshold for elevations in brain injury biomarkers. 

The Traumatic Brain Injury - Threshold Study (TBI-TS) led by Imperial College London, University College London, University of Bath, Monash University, and Leeds Beckett University was then successful in securing significant funding from the Medical Research Council to allow testing to occur across men’s and women’s rugby union and league teams. 

David Hinchliffe, who chairs the Brain Health Fund Board of Trustees having been chair of Parliament's Health Select Committee from 1997-2005 and Labour MP for Wakefield from 1987-2005, said: “The PROTECT project represents a major investment for the Fund, because we believe it can be an important project for the sport. 

“We recognise that the media profile of issues around brain health and contact sport can only have added to the anxiety of current and former players and their families. 

“Our priority at Rugby League Cares since launching the Brain Health Fund in 2023 has been to provide practical support and advice. The agreement with Dementia UK has been central to this, so we are pleased to have extended the agreement beyond the initial two-year term. 

“The response from those who have arranged consultations has been overwhelmingly positive, and we continue to work with the sport’s growing network of former players organisations to ensure as many people as possible are aware of the opportunity. 

“In addition to the investment in PROTECT and the smaller grant we have provided to Wakefield Trinity, with hopefully others to follow, it means we are already planning a major fund-raising event for 2027. 

“Collectively, these projects show how important the Brain Health Fund is for supporting current, retired and future Rugby League players.” 

Rugby League Cares recently extended its partnership with Dementia UK, supported by the Brain Health Fund, by another two years, and the next free clinic for current and former players and their families will be held in Leeds on Wednesday (November 4).