BOSTON, Mass. — Concussion & CTE Foundation® Chief Strategy & Operations Officer Julia Manning sits down with former Brown University men’s water polo goalkeeper/Concussion & CTE Foundation® Community & Volunteer Engagement Specialist Will Renken, for a conversation about Post-Concussive Orthostatic Tachycardia (POTS), concussion, persistent symptoms, and the experiences that shaped his path into this work.
Renken shares what it was like navigating overlapping POTS and post-concussion symptoms after his athletic career was cut short by multiple concussions. He also discusses how those experiences influenced his studies in neuroscience and his passion for supporting the concussion and CTE community.
Renken serves as the Community & Volunteer Engagement Specialist at the Concussion & CTE Foundation. He was diagnosed with POTS after a prolonged viral illness in high school and later played varsity water polo at Brown University, where he earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic honors three times. In 2018, four concussions over just two years ended his collegiate athletic career. Because Will’s POTS and post-concussion symptoms overlapped so closely, his experience sparked an interest in understanding brain injury and the complexities of recovery. He went on to study neuroscience and conduct brain injury research before joining the Concussion & CTE Foundation.
