>>18065333

>according to Dr. Allen Sills

As the NFL's CMO, Dr. Sills works closely with team medical staffs across the league, the NFL Players Association and its advisors, and the many medical and scientific experts who comprise the NFL's medical committees. He coordinates with these medical experts to lead the league's efforts to make advances, on and off the field, to protect players from unnecessary risk through rule changes, evolution of equipment, and robust injury reduction plans.

Dr. Sills has led the NFL's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in consultation with the NFL and NFLPA medical advisors, including the infectious disease experts at Infection Control for Sports (ICS) and epidemiologists from IQVIA, in addition to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public health officials. The recommendations of these advisors have informed the NFL-NFLPA COVID protocols, including robust testing and contact tracing programs. Under Dr. Sills's supervision, these protocols have evolved alongside knowledge of the virus and its transmission toward the league's goal of safely and responsibly completing the 2020 season.

Dr. Sills is an active researcher, having published over 170 scientific articles and presentations, including over 40 in the last five years on the topic of sports concussion. He is a member of the Concussion in Sport Group, which publishes international standards regarding concussion in sport. Dr. Sills is also a fellow of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American College of Surgeons.

Before joining the NFL, Dr. Sills served as a consulting neurosurgeon for the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies, the NHL's Nashville Predators, the US Equestrian Foundation, and the athletic programs at Vanderbilt University, Belmont University and Mississippi State University. He also served as an Unaffiliated Neurotrauma Consultant on the NFL sidelines, and as a neurological consultant to the NCAA and the International Equestrian Foundation (FEI).

Dr. Sills previously served as the Founder and Executive Director of the Memphis Regional Brain Tumor Center; the Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Methodist University Hospital, Memphis; an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee, Memphis and the Semmes-Murphey Clinic; and as Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery at the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

https://www.nfl.com/news/allen-sills-md

>>18065426 (me)

Sills co-authored:

Prevalence of Inflammatory Heart Disease Among Professional Athletes With Prior COVID-19 Infection Who Received Systematic Return-to-Play Cardiac Screening

Abstract

Importance: The major North American professional sports leagues were among the first to return to full-scale sport activity during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Given the unknown incidence of adverse cardiac sequelae after COVID-19 infection in athletes, these leagues implemented a conservative return-to-play (RTP) cardiac testing program aligned with American College of Cardiology recommendations for all athletes testing positive for COVID-19.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of detectable inflammatory heart disease in professional athletes with prior COVID-19 infection, using current RTP screening recommendations.

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study reviewed RTP cardiac testing performed between May and October 2020 on professional athletes who had tested positive for COVID-19. The professional sports leagues (Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Football League, and the men's and women's National Basketball Association) implemented mandatory cardiac screening requirements for all players who had tested positive for COVID-19 prior to resumption of team-organized sports activities. "

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33662103/