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 and was promoted to Professor and Director of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh-Presbyterian University Hospital.

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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 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 2,000 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 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 250 and he is on the editorial board of several medical journals. He has authored or co-authored 40 book chapters and written 4 books. He 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.

In 2003, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors, the third largest generic pharmaceutical company in the world.  In 2005, Dr. Maroon was selected to be the head of the Scientific Advisor Board for General Nutrition Corporation (GNC).  In 2008, he was selected to be the Senior Vice President of the A4M, the largest society of anti-aging medicine in the world.  And also in 2008 he was selected by ImPACT Corporation to be Medical Director of the World Wrestling Corporation (WWE).

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Despite his busy professional schedule, Doctor Maroon has maintained his athletic interest by competing in over 60 triathlon events including Ironman triathlons (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run) in Hawaii (1993, 2003 and 2008), 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.

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Honored as one of America’s best neurosurgeons for 12 consecutive years, he has published four books, has written over 250 papers and 40 book chapters. His two most recent books include, Fish Oil: The Natural Anti-Inflammatory, published in 2006 and The Longevity Factor: How Resveratrol and Red Wine Activate Genes for Longer and Healthier Life, released by Simon and Schuster in January of 2009.

Tri-State Neurosurgical Associates-UPMC
Office Addresses:
Administrative Oakland Office
Presbyterian University Hospital
Department of Neurosurgery
Suite 5C
200 Lothrop Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
 Phone: 1-888-234-4357