Mark R. Lovell, Ph.D., Is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ImPACT Applications. Dr. Lovell joined UPMC Health System in August 2000 as the founding director of the new UPMC Center for Sports Medicine Concussion Program and held this position until his retirement from UPMC in 2011. Dr. Lovell founded the neuropsychological testing programs for the National Football League and serves as a consultant to the league and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also co-directed the National Hockey League's Neuropsychology program from 1997 to 2007 and currently serves as a consultant to the league. Dr. Lovell oversees the neuropsychological testing programs for the Indianapolis Racing League, the WWE, the US Ski Team and numerous other sports organizations nationally and internationally.

Dr. Lovell served as a member of the Vienna and Prague International Consensus conference on Sports-Related concussion, chartered by the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and the International Ice Hockey Federation. He has twice been a finalist for the Pittsburgh Business Times “Heroes of Healthcare” Award for his work in the prevention of brain injury and has also been awarded the Council of Brain Injury (CoBI) award for excellence in research. In 2010, Dr. Lovell received the prestigious USA Hockey Excellence in Safety Ward ad more recently was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from his Alma Mater, Northern Michigan University for his pioneering work in managing sports concussion.

Dr. Michael (Micky) Collins is an internationally renowned expert in sports-related concussion. A leading clinician and researcher, Dr. Collins is currently the Program Director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Established in 2000, it is the first and largest research and clinical program that is focused on the diagnosis, evaluation and management of sports-related concussion in athletes of all levels. Dr. Collins’ expertise attracts many elite and professional athletes from around the world to seek his comprehensive clinical care. On a yearly basis, Dr. Collins treats thousands of high school, college and professional athletes with concerns regarding safe return to play following concussion and treatment/rehabilitation of the injury.

In addition to his extensive clinical experience, Dr. Collins has been a lead author on several major groundbreaking studies of high school and college athletes published in JAMA, Neurosurgery, American Journal of Sports Medicine, and Pediatrics, and he has written more than 60 peer-reviewed research articles for other prestigious medical journals. He has co-authored a textbook on Sports Concussion and is Associate Editor of the Journal Sports Neurology. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Athletic Training and Brain Injury Professional. He is a frequently invited presenter at international and national scientific meetings on brain injury in sports.

Dr. Collins is a Co-Founder and Board Member of ImPACT™ (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing), the first and most widely used computerized sports-concussion evaluation system that has become a standard of care in nearly all organized sports at all levels. He has become a national leader in teaching and implementing the proper use of ImPACT as a clinical tool to help determine injury severity and recovery for safe return to play for athletes at all levels of sport participation.

Dr. Collins was the co-lead author of the Centers for Disease Control’s “Concussion Tool Kit for Physicians,” which has been disseminated nationwide to several physician subspecialties as an education standard regarding concussion management. Dr. Collins is currently a consultant to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and is an advisor to numerous professional athletic organizations, both nationally and Internationally. He has consulted with numerous organizations, including Major League Baseball, USA Rugby, the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, Cirque De Soleil, the National Federation of High Schools, as well as being an advisor to numerous high level collegiate sport programs across the United States.

Dr. Collins’ professional memberships include the International Neuropsychological Association, National Academy of Neuropsychology, and the North American Brain Injury Society.

A graduate of the University of Southern Maine with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and biology, Dr. Collins earned a masters degree in psychology and doctorate degree in clinical psychology at Michigan State University. He completed his Internship at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida and Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Michigan.

In 2010, Dr. Collins was a co-recipient of the National Council on Brain Injury Annual Achievement award. The North American Brain Injury Society also recognized Dr. Collins with the 2005 Innovations in Treatment Award. An athlete himself, Dr. Collins played for the University of Southern Maine in the 1989 NCAA Baseball College World Series.

Joseph Charles Maroon was born in Wheeling, West Virginia on May 26, 1940. 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 in 1972 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 Dr. 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.

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/microscopic 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. His publications number more than 225 and he is on the editorial board of five medical journals. He has authored or co-authored 40 book chapters and edited 3 books. He is on three neurological journal editorial boards and 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 was listed as one of 'America's Best Neurosurgeons' in the publication of America's Best Doctors.

Despite his busy professional schedule, Dr. Maroon has maintained his athletic interest by competing in over 50 triathlon events including Ironman triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) in Hawaii (1993), 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.

Ms. Russo joined the ImPACT team in May 2002 and has been spearheading the corporate advancement of the ImPACT Program.

She is responsible for the firm's overall marketing and strategic planning programs, and corporate and client communications. She focuses much of her time on identifying customer needs, marketing the software, and coordinating sales and training workshops for ImPACT's many clients and sales representatives. She also serves as the media and public relations contact for the company.

The major area of emphasis during Ms. Russo's tenure at ImPACT Applications, Inc. has been the development and enhancement of the ImPACT marketing materials, websites, and branding efforts. Over the years, Labiba has developed and executed key marketing initiatives and that led to the establishment of ImPACT as the leading product in concussion management software.

Ms. Russo graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1993 and later attended the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, with and emphasis on Design and Business training. She has worked on many large marketing projects in the Pittsburgh and Ft. Lauderdale areas and has a successful background in public relations, marketing, and customer service. Ms. Russo is a member of the American Marketing Association and has been an active participant for many charity events, including the American Cancer Society's annual Pittsburgh golf outing.

Ms. Russo works in the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida office.

Mr. Tauchen graduated from the University of Iowa in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering. Mr. Tauchen works very closely with PJ Flanagan on the software development and programming, technical support, computer repair services, and distribution of the ImPACT Software. Mr. Tauchen's introduction to sports related computer programming came in 1998 with Dr. John Powell at Med Sports Systems. In 2000, he joined ImPACT and the FlanTech Computer Services Team as a support specialist and computer programmer.

Ms. Strawniak joined the ImPACT Team in April 2010 to assist the Sales and Marketing Team and to provide superior customer support for our clients.

Previously, Kathy has worked for some of Pittsburgh’s fastest growing technology companies including Mastech Inc. and BPL Global, Ltd. Her “can do” attitude helped establish these companies. Some of Kathy’s accomplishments include lowering the outstanding accounts by a significant margin while maintaining excellent client relationships. She also worked closely with meeting coordinators to plan every detail for executive meetings across the United States. The talent Kathy brings to ImPACT Applications, Inc. will ensure our clients will receive the best customer support. Kathy will be assisting with ImPACT’s webinars and workshops and any other related customer inquiries.

Ms. Strawniak received a diploma from Northwestern School of Business a Trend College, Portland, OR and attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC with a concentration in accounting. Ms. Strawniak enjoys participating in charity events such as raising money for a local no kill shelter, Angel Ridge Animal Rescue. Currently, Ms. Strawniak resides in Mt. Lebanon, PA with her husband, Larry and their precious dog, Eightball.

Mr. Day graduated from the University of Iowa in December 2011. He has been working with the ImPACT Team since January 2011.

Mr. Coombs is the Chief Operating Officer for ImPACT, joining in June 2009. Ron manages the business development, operations, financial reporting, and strategic planning.

Previously, Ron was a manager in the Project Management Office, for BNY Mellon, and worked with senior management to create and implement integration plans resulting from the merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial.

Ron was the Chief Financial Officer of Mellon Ventures, Inc., a $1.4 billion private equity firm affiliated with Mellon Financial Corporation. In 1996 with the founding partner, Ron created Mellon Ventures and continued managing the financial reporting, operations and growth into four nationwide offices, until Mellon Ventures' sale in December, 2006.

In addition to his experience as CFO, Ron held multiple positions at Mellon Financial Corporation. He served as a Senior Project Leader in Mellon's Strategic Planning Department as well as the administrative and operations manager for the Real Estate Credit Recovery Department, an entity that successfully restructured and disposed of a commercial real estate portfolio of over $1.4 Billion.

Ron is a Certified Public Accountant and received his Bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Professor Ann Edwards, is the Director of the National Sports Concussion Initiative - South Africa/UK (NSCI-SA/UK), in the Department of Psychology at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, and Director of ImPACT-South Africa. She obtained her Clinical Masters Degree cum laude at the University of Cape Town, where she also received the J.G. Taylor award for outstanding research in Psychology. In 2006 she was awarded the Rhodes University Amnesty International Women of the Year Award for her outstanding achievement as a Senior Researcher. Her career as a Neuropsychologist commenced with the post of Clinical Psychologist/Lecturer in the Department of Neurosurgery, Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town. Subsequently, Professor Edwards completed her Ph.D thesis under the supervision of Professor Paul Satz, then Chief Neuropsychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), whilst completing a one year research fellowship on the UCLA Brain Injury Research Centre (BIRC) project. She is a credentialed member of the South African Clinical Neuropsychological Association (SACNA), and has contributed as an executive member of this organization for many years.

Professor Edwards is involved in several on-going research projects supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and a Rhodes University Council Grant, including (i) the study of culturally relevant normative data on commonly employed psychometric tests, and (ii) investigation into the cumulative neuropsychological effects of mild traumatic brain injury in Rugby Union, the latter being in collaboration with Professor Tim Noakes, Director of the MRC/UCT Exercise and Research Unit at the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town. Under the auspices of NSCI and ImPACT-SA, Professor Edwards has established a national network of more than 20 neuropsychologists in the leading metropolitan areas in South Africa, who are implementing computer-based concussion management programmes in Rugby Union using the ImPACT test, for both research and commercial purposes, from school through to professional levels of play. She is also involved in concussion management using ImPACT for UK professional soccer teams.

In her research areas, Professor Edwards has supervised multiple postgraduate masters and doctoral theses on concussion management using ImPACT. This includes a completed Afrikaans translation, and a projected Xhosa translation and norming of the programme. She has obtained registration of the ImPACT test with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), and currently ImPACT is the only computerized test that has been approved for use in the concussion management arena in the country. She has presented regularly at local and international conferences, published in leading international journals in Neuropsychology, and is a regular participant on scientific review panels for conference presentations, journal articles and research funding. She has organized and/or been an invited speaker at many symposiums on cross-cultural research or sports concussion nationally and internationally.


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Victoria Whitefield-Alexander received her Masters Degree in Psychology at the University of Cape Town after completing an internship in the Department of Neurology at Groote Schuur Hospital, and a dissertation on the 'Quality of Life in Epilepsy'. Against this background she was awarded an NRF (National Research Foundation) Doctoral bursary. She completed her doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Ann Edwards at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa on the long-term and cumulative effects of mild traumatic brain injury amongst high school contact sports players, in collaboration with Sports Scientist Professor Tim Noakes, Director, MRC/UCT Exercise and Research Unit, and Professor Mark Lovell, Director of the Sports Medicine Concussion Programme at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, USA. She has co-authored a number of articles and conference presentations on the neurocognitive sequelae of sports concussion in the national and international arenas.

The ImPACT programme is currently endorsed by the South African Rugby BokSmart programme, and the SharkSmart and Energi Wellness programmes, being the first and only registered tool of its kind available for the neurocognitive evaluation of concussed athletes in South Africa. Under these auspices, Dr Alexander provides clinical ImPACT services at the Crescent Clinic in Claremont, Cape Town South Africa, and by special arrangement at the Sports Science Orthopaedic Clinic in Newlands, Cape Town South Africa. This forms part of a comprehensive concussion management programme which services schools, clubs and universities in the Western Cape Province. She also operates as chief liaison officer for ImPACT-South Africa, and chief research officer providing technical assistance for the implementation of ImPACT on the nation wide and UK concussion management projects currently in progress under the coordination of Professor Ann Edwards. She has been instrumental in facilitating the mandatory use of ImPACT for concussion management of players of Rugby Union in a number of leading South African schools and establishing collaborative links between Impact South Africa, the Energi Wellness Programme and Shark Smart.

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