Pittsburgh, July 10, 2026 — Joseph C. Maroon, MD and Vincent J. Miele, MD, faculty in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Neurological Surgery, served as invited visiting professors at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute on July 10.
Dr. Maroon, the first team-appointed neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League, and Dr. Miele, current consultant to the Pittsburgh Steelers, delivered a joint presentation titled "Brain and Spinal Cord Injuries in Sports: Past, Present and Future," drawing on their combined experience in sports neurosurgery.
During the visit, both faculty met individually with the institute's neurosurgical residents and members of its faculty. Among those hosting were Ali Rezai, MD, executive chair of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and an internationally recognized pioneer in the noninvasive focused ultrasound treatment of the brain and in neuromodulation; Peter Konrad, MD, chair of neurosurgery; David Adelson, MD, a former UPMC faculty member now leading pediatric neurosurgery at WVU Medicine Golisano Children's Hospital; and Javier Cardenas, MD, chair of neurology.
The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute brings together clinicians, scientists, engineers, clinical trial specialists, and research staff in a multidisciplinary program focused on translational clinical trials. Under Dr. Rezai's leadership, the institute consolidates the university's neuroscience departments under a single structure, an arrangement designed to reduce the organizational barriers that can separate related disciplines at other institutions.
 Drs. Joseph Maroon and Vincent Miele. |
 Dr. Maroon meeting with the neurosurgical residents at WVU. |