BrainSPORT

About Us

Mission and Impact Statement

To make leading discoveries through research, provide forward-thinking diagnosis and treatment, and transfer our knowledge of sports related concussion and brain health to the broader community.

We strive to be at the forefront of TBI/concussion prevention, comprehensive care, and neurological health.  We will achieve this through multi-disciplinary efforts in the following areas:

  • Safety: Increase TBI awareness, knowledge and prevention
  • Performance: Better understand and implement interventions to improve resiliency and brain health
  • Outreach: Educate future clinicians, researchers, policymakers, parents, athletes and the general community
  • Research: Develop better understanding of and more effective treatments for TBI through translational research
  • Treatment: Care for those with TBI through comprehensive assessments and multi-disciplinary interventions

Comprehensive Sports Concussion Care at UCLA

Our Concussion Clinic is one of the few clinics in the country fully staffed by both neurology and neuropsychology specialists. Several teams at UCLA work together to treat every aspect of sports-related brain injuries in young athletes, including:

In addition, our teams work closely with referring physicians and therapists to customize a recovery plan based on an athlete’s specific injury and concussion symptoms. We also work with parents, school personnel, coaches and athletic trainers to ensure students suffering from concussions can safely resume physical and mental activities. Learn more about concussion treatment at UCLA >

History of UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT

In 2002, pediatric neurologist Christopher Giza, MD, and nurse practitioner Sue Yudovin, RN, established a pediatric traumatic brain injury clinic at UCLA to provide outpatient care for children with all severities of traumatic brain injuries including concussions.

In 2012, this clinic was transformed and Dr. Giza established the BrainSPORT Program to provide multidisciplinary research-based treatment for sports concussions in young athletes.

Two years later, philanthropist Steve Tisch, co-owner of the New York Giants and an Academy Award–winning film producer, pledged $10 million to advance the efforts of the BrainSPORT Program within the department of neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

BrainSPORT: Nationally-Recognized Leader in Sports Concussions

Experts with the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program were instrumental in crafting new American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guidelines for managing athletes with brain injuries.

Until the release of these evidence-based guidelines in 2013, there were no consistent standards to guide coaches and physicians in evaluating and treating sports-related brain injuries. The National Football League Players Association, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and other organizations have endorsed these guidelines.