Invited Faculty
| Faculty Member | Primary Field | Primary Role / Setting | Symposium Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr Kathryn Schneider | Concussion rehabilitation | Associate Professor, Clinician Scientist and Physiotherapist | University of Calgary | Brings international consensus leadership and specialist rehabilitation expertise to athlete brain health care. |
| Dr Dhiren Naidu | Sport medicine and acute concussion evaluation | Professor of Medicine, University of Alberta | Medical Director and Head Team Physician, Edmonton Oilers and Edmonton Elks | Provides clinical and academic expertise in acute concussion evaluation, sideline assessment and SCAT6 development in professional sport. |
| Dr David Maddocks | Neuropsychological assessment | Neuropsychologist and lawyer | Medical and sports law | Links concussion assessment science with practical medicolegal and sport governance expertise. |
| Dr Ruben Echemendia | Sports neuropsychology | Sports neuropsychologist | Past President, CISG | Contributes significant expertise in sports neuropsychology, assessment tools and high-performance sport concussion systems. |
| Dr Christina Master | Paediatric concussion | Professor of Paediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery | University of Pennsylvania / Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia | Strengthens the symposium’s focus on paediatric concussion, youth sport and translational clinical practice. |
| Dr Harrison Brown | Concussion technology | Co-founder and CEO, HEADCHECK Health | Brings a technology lens to the research agenda, grounding academic questions in what actually holds up (or breaks down) when concussion protocols are deployed at scale across real teams, leagues, and sidelines |
| Prof Jon Patricios | Sport-related concussion | Professor, University of the Witwatersrand | Director, Waterfall Sports Orthopaedic Surgery | South African host who anchors the symposium’s South African and international leadership and concussion consensus expertise. |
| Dr James Burger | Sport and exercise psychiatry | Senior Lecturer in Neuropsychiatry | University of Cape Town | Contributes sport-specific neuropsychiatric and athlete mental health expertise to the brain health discussion. |
| Dr James Butler | Neurology | Neurologist | Executive Board Member, Neurological Association of South Africa | Provides specialist neurological insight into seizures, brain injury assessment and long-term brain health. |
| Dr Franclo Henning | Neuromuscular medicine | Consultant Neurologist | Division of Neurology, Stellenbosch University | Adds broader neurological and neuromuscular expertise to the athlete brain health programme. |
| Prof Phoebe Runciman | Adapted disability | Associate Professor and Biokineticist | Acting Head, Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Stellenbosch University | Contributes expertise and experience in specialist Para sport, disability sport and low-resource implementation to the symposium. |
| Mr Hameer Vanmali | School-level concussion systems | Founder, Ingqondo | Developer of TRACE platform | Highlights practical implementation, school systems and language equity in concussion care. |
| Dr Thandeka Mdlalo | Culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tool adaptation | Speech-language pathologist and audiologist | Founder, The Diversity Centre | Strengthens the symposium’s focus on language equity and culturally valid concussion assessment. |
| Ms Nwabisa Mlandu | Neuropsychology | Neuropsychologist | University of Cape Town-trained clinician | Brings a neuropsychological equity lens to cognitive assessment and brain health care regionally and internationally. |
| Dr Leigh Gordon | Pitch-side care | Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician | Cape Sports Medicine | Contributes high-level pitch-side, rugby, field-of-play and practical concussion care expertise. |
Dr Kathryn Schneider
Associate Professor, Clinician Scientist and Physiotherapist | University of Calgary
Expertise: Concussion rehabilitation, cervicovestibular care and sport injury prevention
Dr Kathryn Schneider is an Associate Professor, Clinician Scientist, physiotherapist and epidemiologist at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on the prevention, detection and rehabilitation of sport-related concussion, with particular emphasis on multisystem assessment, sensorimotor and neuromuscular control, the cervical spine and vestibular rehabilitation. Her work has informed changes to concussion screening and rehabilitation recommendations, including the role of cervicovestibular rehabilitation in improving recovery. She was co-lead author of the Amsterdam International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport and co-chaired the Scientific Committee and expert panel for the 6th International Conference on Concussion in Sport.
Symposium relevance: She brings international consensus leadership and specialist rehabilitation expertise to athlete brain health care.
Dr Dhiren Naidu
Professor of Medicine, University of Alberta | Medical Director and Head Team Physician, Edmonton Oilers and Edmonton Elks
Expertise: Sport medicine, sideline concussion evaluation in professional sport and SCAT6 development
Dr Dhiren Naidu is a specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a sport medicine physician. He is Professor of Medicine at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. He is Chief Medical Officer in the Canadian Football League and President of the NHL Team Physicians Society, and serves as Medical Director and Head Team Physician for the Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club and Edmonton Elks Football Club, roles he has held for over 20 years. Dr Naidu was an author of the systematic review on acute evaluation of sport-related concussion informing SCAT6 for adults, adolescents and children. He currently serves on the CFL and NHL concussion subcommittees and the NFL Head and Spine Committee.
Symposium relevance: He adds acute concussion evaluation expertise from both clinical and academic professional sport settings.
Dr David Maddocks
Neuropsychologist and lawyer | Medical and sports law
Expertise: Neuropsychological assessment, cognitive recovery and medicolegal sport concussion
Dr David Maddocks is qualified in both neuropsychology and law. He began cognitive testing of concussed elite Australian Rules footballers in 1986, using baseline and post-injury assessments to monitor recovery. His doctoral research at the University of Melbourne focused on neuropsychological recovery after concussion, including orientation after head trauma, memory, reaction time, information processing speed and return-to-competition performance. Elements of his work were incorporated into the SCAT as the Maddocks Questions. He has worked in acquired brain injury rehabilitation, contributed to long-term follow-up research in former athletes and co-authored the Zurich and Berlin CISG Consensus Statements.
Symposium relevance: He links concussion assessment science with practical medicolegal and sport governance expertise.
Dr Ruben Echemendia
Neuropsychologist | Past President, CISG
Expertise: Sports neuropsychology, SCAT development and professional sport concussion systems
Dr Ruben Echemendia is an internationally recognised sports neuropsychologist with extensive clinical, research and policy experience in concussion. He has published widely, contributed to the NFL-LONG study of retired NFL players and has advised major sporting organisations, including the NHL, Major League Soccer and US Soccer. He is a Fellow and Past President of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and founder and Past President of the Sports Neuropsychology Society. He was a founding executive board member of CISG, contributed to multiple international consensus conferences and served as lead author for the SCAT5 and SCAT6.
Symposium relevance: He provides deep expertise in sports neuropsychology, assessment tools and high-performance sport concussion systems.
Dr Christina Master
Professor of Paediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery | University of Pennsylvania / Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Expertise: Paediatric concussion, youth athletes and translational clinical care
Dr Christina L. Master is Professor of Paediatrics and Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and a member of the Academy of Master Clinicians. She is board-certified in paediatrics, sports medicine and brain injury medicine, and is the founding director of the Minds Matter Concussion Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her work integrates clinical care, community outreach, education and translational concussion research. She has received research funding from major public and academic funders and serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Forum on Traumatic Brain Injury.
Symposium relevance: She strengthens the symposium’s focus on paediatric concussion, youth sport and translational clinical practice.
Mr Harrison Brown
Co-founder and CEO, HEADCHECK | Concussion researcher and former rugby player
Expertise: Concussion technology, head impact monitoring and objective assessment
Mr Harrison Brown is the co-founder and CEO of HEADCHECK Health, a software platform working to eliminate concussion mismanagement in sport. His background as an athlete in contact sport (rugby) informs his approach, while his postgraduate research in the University of British Columbia's Sensorimotor Physiology Lab focused on the diagnostic accuracy of concussion testing, utility of baseline testing, head impact monitoring, and objective balance measurement. His work sits at the interface of sport, technology, and practical, real-world concussion program implementation.
Symposium relevance: He contributes applied expertise in scalable concussion systems, technology and objective field-based assessment.
Prof Jon Patricios
Professor, University of the Witwatersrand | Director, Waterfall Sports Orthopaedic Surgery
Expertise: Sport-related concussion, consensus leadership and clinical sport medicine
Prof Jon Patricios has been in sports medicine practice since 1995. He is Director of Waterfall Sports Orthopaedic Surgery in Johannesburg and Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he leads the Wits Sport and Health Research Group. He is founder and Director of Sports Concussion South Africa, a sport concussion consultant to World Rugby, a board member of CISG and Co-chair of the Scientific Committee for the International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport. He is co-lead author of the 2023 International Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport and an editor of the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Symposium relevance: He anchors the symposium’s South African leadership and international concussion consensus expertise.
Dr James Burger
President of International Society for Sports Psychiatry | Senior Lecturer in Neuropsychiatry | University of Cape Town
Expertise: Sport and exercise psychiatry, mental health and brain injury care
Dr James Burger is a specialist psychiatrist and subspecialist neuropsychiatrist based at the University of Cape Town. He is a senior lecturer in neuropsychiatry and has a strong interest in mental health, teaching and promoting active lifestyles. His leadership roles include regional Vice President of the International Society for Sports Psychiatry, membership of the SASCOC High Performance Psychology Working Group and World Rugby’s Brain Health Services Advisory Group, and founding chair of the South African Sport and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group. His work focuses on developing coordinated, evidence-based interdisciplinary health services for athletes and the broader population.
Symposium relevance: He brings neuropsychiatric and athlete mental health expertise to the brain health discussion.
Dr James Butler
Neurologist | Executive Board Member, Neurological Association of South Africa
Expertise: Neurology, seizure disorders and long-term brain health
Dr James Butler is a neurologist and Executive Board Member of the Neurological Association of South Africa. He qualified from the University of Cape Town in 1988, completed neurology training at the same institution in 1995 and then undertook a two-year fellowship in epilepsy at the Epilepsy Unit in the Department of Neurological Sciences at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. His specific areas of interest include seizure disorders and long-term brain health. His expertise adds an important neurological perspective to the assessment and management of brain health concerns in sport.
Symposium relevance: He provides specialist neurological insight into seizures, brain injury assessment and long-term brain health.
Dr Franclo Henning
Neurologist | Division of Neurology, Stellenbosch University
Expertise: Neuromuscular medicine, muscle disease and neurological health
Dr Franclo Henning qualified as a neurologist from Stellenbosch University in 2005 and completed a fellowship in neuromuscular medicine at the University Medical Centre Utrecht in the Netherlands in 2006. Since 2007, he has been a consultant in the Division of Neurology at Stellenbosch University, where he lectures in neurology and runs a neuromuscular service. His interests include muscle disorders and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis / motor neuron disease. He has chaired the MND/ALS Association of South Africa and served on the Lysosomal Storage Diseases medical advisory board. sport.
Symposium relevance: He adds broader neurological and neuromuscular expertise to the athlete brain health programme.
Prof Phoebe Runciman
Associate Professor and Biokineticist | Acting Head, Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine, Stellenbosch University
Expertise: Adapted disability, Para sport, biomechanics and injury / illness epidemiology
Prof Phoebe Runciman is an Exercise Scientist and Biokineticist with a PhD in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Cape Town. She is Associate Professor, Acting Head of the Division of Sport and Exercise Medicine and Research Chair for the Department of Exercise, Sport and Lifestyle Medicine at Stellenbosch University. Her work focuses on adapted disability and Para sport, injury and illness epidemiology, biomechanics and advancing Para sport in low-resourced settings. She has initiated the African Para athlete network, works with the International Paralympic Committee and Commonwealth Games GAPS Africa programme, and is a member of the Concussion in Para Sport and SPARKY international expert working groups.
Symposium relevance: She brings specialist Para sport, disability sport and low-resource implementation expertise to the symposium.
Mr Hameer Vanmali
Founder, Ingqondo | Developer of TRACE platform
Expertise: School-level concussion systems, language adaptation and implementation science
Mr Hameer Vanmali is a South African multidisciplinary health scientist, founder of Ingqondo and developer of the TRACE platform, a school-level concussion and injury management system. He holds degrees in Sports and Exercise Science, Medical Physiology and Medical Virology, and has published in respiratory virology. He previously served as Research and Training Coordinator in the Division of Medical Virology at Stellenbosch University. He currently leads the isiXhosa adaptation of SCAT6, described in the source material as the first African-language adaptation of a tool in the CISG concussion toolkit.
Symposium relevance: He highlights practical implementation, school systems and language equity in concussion care.
Dr Thandeka Mdlalo
Speech-language pathologist and audiologist | Founder, The Diversity Centre
Expertise: Culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tool adaptation
Dr Thandeka Mdlalo is a speech-language pathologist and audiologist with a PhD from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Her doctoral research developed a framework for the culturally and linguistically appropriate adaptation of English-language assessment tools for indigenous South African populations. She is the founder of The Diversity Centre and currently heads the Department of Speech-Language Therapy at Boitekanelo College in Botswana. isiXhosa is her mother tongue. Her work is directly relevant to adapting concussion assessment tools so that they are locally valid, language-sensitive and responsive to South African clinical realities.
Symposium relevance: She strengthens the symposium’s focus on language equity and culturally valid concussion assessment.
Ms Nwabisa Mlandu
Neuropsychologist | University of Cape Town-trained clinician
Expertise: Neuropsychology, traumatic brain injury and cognitive assessment equity
Ms Nwabisa Mlandu is a neuropsychologist with a master’s degree in Neuropsychology from the University of Cape Town. Her work integrates clinical practice and research, with interests in traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, neurodegenerative disorders and equity in cognitive assessment. She is particularly focused on developing culturally and linguistically appropriate neuropsychological tools for South Africa’s diverse populations, and advocates for assessment approaches that are locally validated and responsive to language, culture and lived experience. Her expertise aligns closely with the symposium’s focus on accessible and defensible athlete brain health assessment.
Symposium relevance: She brings a neuropsychological equity lens to cognitive assessment and brain health care in South Africa.
Dr Leigh Gordon
Sport and Exercise Medicine Physician | Cape Sports Medicine
Expertise: Pitch-side care, immediate care in rugby and sports concussion implementation
Dr Leigh Gordon is one of the three founding partners at Cape Sports Medicine and works as a full-time sport and exercise medicine physician. She is Director of the International Sports Medicine Federation Centre of Collaboration and President-Elect of the South African Sports Medicine Association. She is a former team physician for the Springbok Sevens men’s and women’s squads, a World Rugby Medical Trainer and coordinator of the South African Immediate Care in Rugby pitch-side care training courses. She also serves on World Rugby’s Independent Concussion Consultant panel and has held medical officer roles in international field hockey.
Symposium relevance: She contributes high-level pitch-side, rugby, field-of-play and practical concussion care expertise.
Dr Claus Reinsberger
Claus Reinsberger, MD PhD, is a board-certified neurologist, Professor of Sports Medicine at Paderborn University (GER) and Chief of Sports Neurology and Neurosciences at Mass General Brigham (MGB) in Boston (USA). After a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology, he served as faculty at Brigham and Women’s Hospital before he became Germany’s first Neurologist to serve as Chair of Sports Medicine in 2014. In 2023 he was appointed as Chief of Sports Neurology & Neurosciences at MGB and became Associate Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. His clinical and scientific interests consist of various topics within the field of Sports Neurology, specifically sports associated concussion, sports / exercise therapy in neurological diseases and the autonomic nervous system in sports. Among several leadership positions and committee work he serves as a member of the Medical Commission at DFB and directs an expert commission on head injuries at UEFA.
Dr Julianne Schmidt
Dr. Julianne Schmidt is a Georgia Athletic Association Endowed Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Georgia. She co-directs the UGA Concussion Research Center. Dr. Schmidt is an internationally recognized concussion researcher whose work spans concussion biomechanics, injury prevention, clinical assessment and management, care seeking, and driving safety following concussion. She has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous federally and foundation funded research projects. In 2025, she was inducted as a Fellow of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (FNATA), one of the profession’s highest honors. Dr. Schmidt also serves as a Member at Large on the Board of Directors of the Concussion in Sport Group, contributing to international efforts to advance concussion research, clinical care, and guidelines.
Prof Vicki Anderson
Professor Anderson is a paediatric neuropsychologist, working across clinical, research and academic sectors. She is Director, Clinical Sciences Research (2005-), Lead, Clinician Scientist Fellowship program, Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne (Psychology & Paediatrics). and past Director of Psychology, Royal Children’s Hospital. She is a member at large, CISG, an Executive Member, International Brain Injury Association, and past president International Neuropsychological Society. She has published 600+ peer reviewed papers, 6 books, with > $60M (AUD) competitive research funding. Her research team, Brain and Mind, has contributed to i) establishing the vulnerability of the young brain to injury; ii) better understanding factors contributing to resilience and vulnerability post-injury; ii) improving outcomes through implementation of evidence-based, effective, accessible care. Major achievements: i) novel diagnostic tools, ii) e-health parent mental health interventions; iii) HeadCheck, app monitoring and treating concussion, iv) co-authorship of the first international paediatric sports concussion guidelines (CISG).