About the specialists
Eagles running back Brian Westbrook will be seen Wednesday by two specialists in the field of concussions: Mark R. Lovell, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Joseph Maroon, M.D., of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Here's some biographical information on each doctor:
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Mark R. Lovell, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized sports concussion expert and founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Sports Medicine Concussion Program. The program is the first and largest program of its kind to both clinically manage and scientifically study the neurocognitive effects of sports-related concussion and develop better methods of post-concussion evaluation to determine when it is safe for an athlete to return to sports following a concussion.
Dr. Lovell developed and implemented league-wide neurocognitive testing for both the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1990s. He currently serves as a consultant for the NFL, NHL, NASCAR, Indianapolis Racing League, Major League Soccer and the US Ski/Snowboard Teams.
He has authored or co-authored dozens of groundbreaking research studies published in major scientific journals involving the assessment of the neurocognitive effects and management of sports-related concussion, particularly in high school and college athletes. He is a frequently invited presenter at international scientific meetings and has edited or co-authored nine textbooks and numerous book chapters.
Before joining UPMC in 2000, Dr. Lovell was the director of neuropsychology at the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit since 1996. Prior to that, he had been director of neuropsychology and chief of neuropsychological services at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. He is currently a professor of orthopaedic surgery and neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. In 2003, Dr. Lovell was given the Distinguished Alumni Award at Northern Michigan University. He had also been twice a finalist for the Pittsburgh Business Times' Health Care Hero, Innovation and Technology Award.
Dr. Lovell received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology at Northern Michigan University in 1977 and a doctorate degree in clinical psychology at the Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical School in 1984. He then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the University of Nebraska Medical School in 1985. In 1997, he graduated from the Leadership Development Program at the Henry Ford Health System.
A diplomate of the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology and fellow of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, Dr. Lovell also is a member of the International Neuropsychological Society, American Psychological Association, American Neuropsychiatric Association, Brain Injury Association, Pennsylvania Psychological Association and the Canadian Psychological Association. He is a reviewer for the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience and guest reviewer for Clinical Psychology Review and The Clinical Neuropsychologist.
Source: From www.upmc.com
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Joseph Charles Maroon, M.D. was born in Wheeling, West Virginia. He was educated in the parochial schools in Bellaire, Ohio where his athletic abilities earned him an athletic scholarship to the University of Indiana in Bloomington, Indiana. As an undergraduate he was selected as a Scholastic All American in Football in Indiana. Following his undergraduate education, he obtained his medical and neurosurgical training at Indiana University, Georgetown University, Oxford University in England and a microsurgical Fellowship at the University of Vermont under R.M. Peardon Donaghy. He began his practice at the University of Pittsburgh and was promoted to Professor and Director of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh-Presbyterian University Hospital.
In 1984, he joined Allegheny General Hospital as Chairman of Neurosurgery and in 1995 assumed the additional role as Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Allegheny General Hospital/Medical College of Pennsylvania.
In 1999 he was recruited back to the University of Pittsburgh where he was appointed Vice Chairman and Professor of the Department of Neurological Surgery and also designated the Dennis and Rose Heindl Scholar in Neurosciences. He has been the team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club for the past 20 years and has developed innovated programs for the management of athletes with cerebral concussions. ImPACT© (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) was developed by Doctor Maroon and his colleague, neuropsychologist Mark Lovell, Ph.D. It is the first computerized evaluation system used that may help determine concussion severity as well as if and when it is safe for an athlete to return to contact sports. This program has now been adopted by the NFL, NHL, some teams in the NBA and over 2,000 high schools and colleges throughout the United States. His research into brain tumors and diseases of the spine have lead to many innovative techniques for diagnosing and treating these disorders. He has operated on over 1,000 pituitary tumors and now uses an endoscopic approach.
In 1986, he was honored by his peers when they elected him President of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the largest society of neurosurgeons in North America. He has since been honored for his contributions in neurosurgery by the national neurosurgical societies of many foreign countries including Japan, Korea, Thailand, Egypt, Brazil and Lebanon. In 1999 he was selected in Beirut Lebanon to be the lifetime Honorary President of the World Association of Lebanese Neurosurgeons.
His publications number more than 250 and he is on the editorial board of several medical journals. He has authored or co-authored 40 book chapters and written 4 books. He has introduced microsurgical and percutaneous techniques for the minimally invasive treatment of herniated lumbar discs. In 2002, he was nominated a Health Care Hero Lifetime Achievement Award finalist by the Pittsburgh Business Times and has been listed, for 8 consecutive years, as one of "America's Best Neurosurgeons" in the publication of America's Best Doctors.
In 2003, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors, the third largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world. In 2005, Dr. Maroon was selected to be the head of the Scientific Advisor Board for General Nutrition Corporation (GNC). In 2008, he was selected to be the Senior Vice President of the A4M, the largest society of anti-aging medicine in the world. And also in 2008 he was selected by ImPACT Corporation to be Medical Director of the World Wrestling Corporation (WWE).
Despite his busy professional schedule, Doctor Maroon has maintained his athletic interest by competing in over 60 triathlon events including Ironman triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) in Hawaii (1993, 2003 and 2008), Canada (1995), New Zealand (1997) and Europe (2000). In 1999 he, along with Joe Montana and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar were inducted into the Lou Holtz Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments and contributions to sports medicine.
Source: From www.josephmaroon.com