Premier League | NFL Medical Conference 2023

Dr. Jeff Crandall is the CEO of Biomechanics Consulting and Research (Biocore), LC. He is also the Nancy and Neal Wade Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences (Emeritus). Dr. Crandall’s expertise involves understanding human response and injury with application to the fields of sports and automobile safety. He has authored more than 700 papers, has been awarded 7 patents, and has received the United States Government Award for Engineering Excellence. Dr. Crandall serves as an engineering consultant to the National Football League and chairs the NFL Engineering Committee.

Dr. Cárdenas is the director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center; an interdisciplinary clinic that is nationally recognized for comprehensive patient care. Since 2009, the Center has treated thousands of individuals suffering from traumatic brain injury due to sports, accidents, falls, and domestic violence. He is also the director of the Barrow Concussion Network, the most comprehensive statewide concussion education, prevention, and treatment program in the United States. Dr. Cárdenas provides sideline concussion coverage for Arizona State University and the National Football League. He serves on the NFL’s Head, Neck & Spine Committee, the NCAA Concussion Advisory Group, the National Federation of High Schools Medical Advisory Committee, the Arizona Interscholastic Association Sport Medical Advisory Committee, and the USA Football Medical Advisory Panel.

Dr. Jim Ellis serves as the Emergency Preparedness Consultant to NFL Player Health and Safety. In this role, he works to coordinate medical care for all International Series Games as well as oversee the Emergency Action Plan, Airway Management Physician, and Visiting Team Medical Liaison programs. In addition, he has coordinated team medical care at the Super Bowl for over 25 years and worked 13 seasons as a team physician for the Atlanta Falcons. Dr. Ellis has a long-standing professional interest in venue medicine having worked both Summer and Winter Olympic Games as well as FIFA World Cup. He was the medical consultant with Russia on their bid for both the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, he served as the Medical Director of the Olympic Stadium and wrote emergency action plans for all Olympic venues. Recently, Dr Ellis was selected to Co-Chair a national committee by the NATA on Spine Injury in Sport and is an author of a pending publication on Emergency Action Planning in Sport. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Charity Hospital in New Orleans and is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

Julian is Liverpool FC's former Sporting Director. Julian spent 11 years at Liverpool FC, initially joining the club's football operation in 2012 to support the club’s scouting, recruitment and player development strategy. In the 2020 season, Julian stepped up to the newly created Assistant Sporting Director position, before being appointed LFC's Sporting Director in June 2022. Prior to his time at LFC he has worked across international and club football for Preston North End FC, Manchester City FC and the Portuguese National Team.

Dr. Sills received his M.D. degree in 1990 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his residency training in Neurological Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and then went on to complete a two-year euro-oncology Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Sills' clinical interests include brain tumors, sports neurosurgery, and general neurosurgery. Dr. Sills has served as the Chief Medical Officer of the National Football League since 2017 and is a Professor of Neurological Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery & Rehabilitation at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

Robb Rehberg is a Senior Medical Advisor and Coordinator of Game Day Medical Operations for the National Football League, where he provides support and oversight for several health and safety initiatives, including the Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) Spotter program, concussion, emergency preparedness, and the NFL medical committees. Dr. Rehberg is also a professor of athletic training and sports medicine at William Paterson University in New Jersey, USA, is founder of Sport Safety International, an organization dedicated to promoting safe participation in sport and physical activity through education, and is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame.