Mysteries of the Universe: When Did ImPACT Chief Mark Lovell ‘Retire’ From UPMC Concussion Program?

As I reported last week, Mark Lovell is out as the director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Sports Medicine Concussion Program. Michael “Micky” Collins, Lovell’s UPMC and ImPACT Applications, Inc., colleague, is the new director.

But no one is saying exactly when the change occurred or what it means. Lovell, who I believe is 58 years ago, this year “retired” from Pitt, according to his biography at the ImPACT company, where he is chairman. I do not know when that bio was last revised. Also: What’s wrong with a good old emeritus position?

An article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on September 15 called Collins the “assistant director” of the UPMC program. However, in a story on a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette blog the following day, UPMC spokesperson Susan Manko referred to Collins as the “director.” See http://plus.sites.post-gazette.com/index.php/pro-sports/penguins-plus/111805-on-crosbys-medical-team. Maybe we’re getting warm. Yo, Ms. Manko – You have my email address and phone and fax numbers.

In other news, I’m waiting to hear back from Earl Blansfield, a Freedom of Information Act official for the National Institutes of Health, on the status of my FOIA request for Lovell and UPMC’s successful NIH grant applications. My request dates back to November 7. Earlier, Blansfield had said that the agency ordinarily gives a grant recipient institution around ten business days to review a prospective release of public records and make claims that they shouldn’t be released because that would compromise intellectual property rights or other commercial interests.

Irv Muchnick

UPMC: Concussion Scandal Ground Zero — the second ebook short from the Concussion Inc. imprint — will be published shortly.