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 an associate 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.
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