University of Pittsburgh hosts sports concussion research conference

Presenters include top pro sports team doctors, leading neuroscientists and pro athletes

PITTSBURGH, June 14 – First-ever on-the-playing-field research by sports medicine neuropsychologists, team physicians and athletic trainers, in collaboration with neuroscientists in the laboratory and clinic during the past year, has led to new advances in sports concussion management at all levels of sports – from high schools to the pros.

These developments will be shared with more than 200 physicians, athletic trainers, coaches and other related professionals at the fourth annual "New Developments in Sports-Related Concussion" international conference hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Sports Medicine Concussion Program, July 16 – 18 at the Westin Convention Center, downtown Pittsburgh.

The agenda will feature presentations by internationally recognized experts in sports concussion management including top professional sports team and league physicians and athletic trainers, the world's leading neuropsychologists and neuroscientists in concussion management, as well as a panel of professional athletes.

"The Pittsburgh conference has become the major international concussion conference. We are particularly excited this year to present the newest cutting-edge technology regarding the diagnosis and management of sports-related concussion," said Mark R. Lovell, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist and director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

Dr. Lovell, whose research team has published several first-ever studies involving high school athletes in major sports medicine and neurology journals this past year and recently published a textbook on concussion in athletes, will present, The Clinical Management of Concussion: Current Research and Future Directions at the conference. Dr. Lovell also is the director of neurological testing for the NFL and NHL and a consultant for NASCAR, the Indianapolis Racing League, Formula 1 and CHAMP Racing.

Other specific topics and presenters include:

Concussion in Professional Football – David Viano, M.D., Ph.D., member of the NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee and director of the Sport Biomechanics Laboratory at Wayne State University in Detroit;
On-the-Field Management: An NFL Athletic Trainer's Perspective – John Norwig, head athletic trainer for the Pittsburgh Steelers;
Update from the NHL – Charles Burke, M.D., UPMC orthopaedic surgeon, team physician for the Pittsburgh Penguins and director of the NHL Concussion Program;
Management of the Concussed Professional Athlete – Joseph Maroon, M.D., UPMC neurological surgeon and Steelers team neurosurgeon;
Concussion in Motor Sports – Stephen Olvey, M.D., neurological surgeon at the University of Miami, former medical director for CART Racing;
Concussions in Soccer – Don Kirkendall, M.D., assistant professor of orthopaedics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill;
Concussions in Boxing/Martial Arts – Julian Bailes, M.D., professor and chairman of neurosurgery at West Virginia University;
Concussion Guidelines, Current Status – Robert Cantu, M.D., neurological surgeon and chairman of the sports medicine committee at Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mass.;
Computer-based Neuropsychological Testing – Michael Collins, Ph.D., neuropsychologist and assistant director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program;
New Advances in Brain Imaging – Melvin Field, M.D., neurosurgeon and concussion researcher at Orlando Neurosurgery, Orlando, Fla.;
New Developments in Clinical Neuroscience – Charles Tegeler, M.D., neurologist at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.;
Blood Serum Markers of Brain Injury – Jeffrey Bazarian, M.D., director of emergency medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.;
Pathophysiology of Concussion – Christopher Giza, M.D., neurological surgeon at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.

In addition, a round-table discussion will feature several local top professional athletes and Steelers team physicians Drs. Maroon, James Bradley and Anthony Yates; and Penguins team physician Dr. Burke.

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For more detailed information on the conference, please access http://www.impacttest.com/.

The UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, established in 2000, is an ongoing clinical and research program that focuses on the diagnosis and management of sports-related concussion in athletes of all levels.

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