Heindl Scholar in Neuroscience
Clincal Professor of Neurological Surgery
Vice Chairman, Community Network
Director, Tri-State Neurosurgical Associates
Team Neurosurgeon, Pittsburgh Steelers
Phone: (412) 647-3604; (888) 234-4357
e-mail: bostj@upmc.edu

Specialized Areas of Interest

Microdiscectomy; lumbar laminectomy; anterior cervical discectomy; Arnold-Chiari Malformation; pituitary tumors; orbital tumors; acoustic tumors; brain tumors; concussion; sports medicine.

Biography

Joseph Charles Maroon 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 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 rejoined the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh as Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department.

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 200 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/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. 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 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 has been listed, for 8 consecutive years, as one of “America’s Best Neurosurgeons” in the publication of America’s Best Doctors. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Youth Foundation (AYF), an international organization that fosters leadership qualities in students.

Despite his busy professional schedule, Doctor 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 and 2003), 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.

For more information, please visit www.josephmaroon.com.

Dr. Maroon's publications can be reviewed through the National Library of Medicine's publication database.

Board Certifications

American Board of Neurological Surgery

Hospital Privileges

UPMC Passavant
UPMC Presbyterian
UPMC St. Margarets
Sewickley Valley Hospital
Wheeling Hospital

Professional Organization Membership

Allegheny County Medical Society
American Association for the History of Medicine
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
American College of Sports Medicine
American College of Surgeons
American Medical Association
Association for Academic Surgery
CFR Historical Society
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
International Neurosurgical Forum
Mid-Atlantic Neurosurgical Society
National Association for Disabled Athletes
National Football League Physicians Society
Neurosurgical Society of America
Pennsylvania Medical Society
Pennsylvania Neurosurgical Society
Research Society of Neurological Surgeons
Society of Neuroscience

Editorial Service

• Editorial Board:

Neurological Research

• Ad Hoc Reviewer:

Neurology India
Stroke
Journal of Cranial Base Surgery
Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology
Neurosurgery