Anthony P. Kontos, PhD

  • Adjunct Professor

Anthony Kontos is director of research for the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program and associate professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh.  He received his doctoral degree in kinesiology/sport psychology from Michigan State University where he received master’s degrees in counseling psychology and exercise science and completed an internship in counseling psychology. He completed his B.A. in psychology at Adrian College, where he was a four-year starter on the men’s soccer team. Kontos has specialized in mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) research for the past 12 years, has 132 professional publications and 218 professional presentations, and has received research funding as a PI from external sources including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), US Special Operations Command, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Football League (NFL)/GE Head Health Challenge, National Operating Committee of Standards for Athletic Equipment, and the NFL Charities. His research focuses on concussion including neurocognitive and neuromotor effects; psychological issues; and concussion in military, pediatric, and sport populations. Kontos is a reviewer for journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, American Journal of Sports Medicine, Pediatrics, and Neurosurgery; as well as an invited reviewer of grants for the NIH, NCAA Grand Challenge, National Athletic Trainers Association, Walter Reed Army Institute for Research, and US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command. He served as chair of the Sub-acute Subgroup on the NIH Sports Concussion Common Data Elements working group. He is also the past-president of the American Psychological Association’s Division 47- Society for Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology, attended the 2014 White House Healthy Kids & Safe Sports Concussion Summit, and co-directed the 2015 Targeted Evaluation & Active Management Approach to Treating Concussion meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.