The Hanseatic city of Hamburg once again became a center for health and physical activity promotion: At the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2025, held from June 26 to 28 at the Congress Center Hamburg, experts from sports medicine, science, politics, as well as the health and sports sectors gathered to jointly promote perspectives for an active and healthy future.
A special distinction was awarded to Jan Kern, research associate at the Chair of Human Movement Science, who received the Young Investigator Award from the German Journal of Sports Medicine (DZSM) for his publication “Factors Influencing Wearable-Derived Head Impact Kinematics in Soccer Heading” as the best empirical work of the past year.
Jan Kern expressed his delight at the recognition of his scientific work: “I am very pleased to have been awarded the Young Investigator Award by the DZSM. The prize is a great recognition not only of my own work but also of the efforts of my co-authors Prof. Joachim Hermsdörfer and Dr. Philipp Gulde, to whom I would like to express my sincere thanks for their support.”
In the study, the research associate investigates the influence of heading-related factors on head acceleration measured using wearable sensor technology during soccer headers. This undoubtedly represents an important contribution to research in the field of injury prevention in football. The award was presented by Prof. Jürgen-Michael Steinacker (Professor of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine at Ulm University and Head of the Section for Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine at Ulm University Hospital), Prof. Wilhelm Bloch (Professor at the Institute of Circulatory Research and Sports Medicine at the German Sport University Cologne) and Eva-Maria Hochhaus (Senior Scientific Editor at DZSM).
“I’m absolutely delighted that Jan Kern received this award in front of the large audience at the conference in Hamburg,” said Prof. Hermsdörfer, Department Head and head of the Chair of Human Movement Science. “It is a well-deserved recognition of his tremendous commitment to the longitudinal study, which required his full dedication over several years—on the field, in the lab, and during the subsequent analyses.”
With the Young Investigator Award, the DZSM honors outstanding achievements by early-career researchers, aiming to raise the visibility of their work while also promoting the diversity and quality of submitted publications in a sustainable way.
To the homepage of the Chair of Human Movement Science
To the study “Factors Influencing Wearable-Derived Head Impact Kinematics in Soccer Heading”
To the homepage of the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit 2025
Contact
Prof. Dr. Joachim Hermsdörfer
Department Head Health and Sport Sciences
Chair of Human Movement Science
Am Olympiacampus 11
80809 Munich
Phone: +49 89 289 24550
Email: joachim.hermsdoerfer(at)tum.de
Jan Kern
Chair of Human Movement Science
Am Olympiacampus 11
80809 Munich
Phone: +49 89 289 24643
Email: jan.kern(at)tum.de
Text: Bastian Daneyko
Photos: Private