Merril Hoge

Merril Hoge
Former NFL Player and Analyst, Motivational Speaker, Author
Bethany@Valiant3communications.com

Merril Hoge is a former NFL running back who worked as an analyst at ESPN for 21 years, helping launch ESPN2, NFL Live, and Fantasy Football. Hoge is chairman of the board of the Highmark Caring Foundation and on the board of the Chuck Noll Foundation for Brain Injury Research. Active in concussion research and in the prevention and treatment of brain injuries, Hoge testified at a congressional hearing on football head injuries in 2009 and was appointed to the NFL Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee in 2010. In 2018, Hoge helped launch Your Call Football and is the author of Find a Way: Three Words That Changed My Life and co-author of Brainwashed: The Bad Science Behind CTE and the Plot to Destroy Football.

Dr. Michael McCrea

Dr. Michael McCrea
Professor; Director, Brain Injury Research Program
mmccrea@mcw.edu | 414.805.3666

Dr. McCrea is Tenured Professor, Eminent Scholar, and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), where he also serves as Co-Director for the MCW Center for Neurotrauma Research (CNTR). He has an appointment as a research neuropsychologist at the Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wis. He has led several large, multi-center studies on the effects of traumatic brain injury and sport-related concussion. He currently is co-PI on the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium and several other large-scale studies investigating the acute and chronic effects of TBI in various populations at risk.

Dr. Gerard Gioia

Dr. Gerard Gioia
Division Chief, Neuropsychology | Director, SCORE Program
ggioia@childrensnational.org | 301.765.5430

Gerard Gioia, Ph.D., is the Division Chief of Neuropsychology and the Director of the Safe Concussion Outcome, Recovery & Education Program at Children’s National Health System. He is a professor at George Washington University School of Medicine. He directs the Neurobehavioral Core research laboratories for Children’s National’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center. Additionally, he currently serves as President of the Sports Neuropsychology Society. He is the team neuropsychologist for both the Washington Capitals and Baltimore Ravens, and also works with youth, high school and collegiate athletes and programs.

Dr. Peter Cummings

Dr. Peter Cummings
Founder and CEO of Veritas Sports Injury Research Network
pathologypete@gmail.com

Dr. Peter Cummings is the Founder and CEO of Veritas Sports Injury Research Network, a non-profit organization focused on improving the safety and increasing participation in youth sports. Previously, Dr. Cummings was an Assistant Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology at the Boston University School of Medicine and a Forensic Pathologist and Staff Medical Examiner at the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He has taught at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and at the University of Maine. He has co-authored two textbooks and with Merril Hoge, former NFL running back and ESPN analyst, co-authored the book Brainwashed: The Bad Science Behind CTE and the Plot to Destroy Football.