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Allen Sills

Chief Medical Officer, National Football League

Dr. Allen K. Sills is the NFL’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO), a full-time position dedicated to advancing the health and safety of the sport of football. He became the NFL’s first CMO in March 2017, joining the league from Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

As a neurosurgeon specializing in the treatment of athletes, Dr. Sills continues to serve at Vanderbilt as a Professor of Neurological Surgery, and he is also the Founder and former Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Sports Concussion Center. 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.

Over the past decade these efforts have proven effective in reducing concussions, soft tissue injuries, and overall burden of injury in the NFL. Dr. Sills is also a frequent speaker and educator who shares the NFL’s data and advances with other leagues and levels of sport throughout the world.

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