Chris Nowinski on Making an Impact

Chris Nowinski, Ph.D. is co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation. He is also co-founder of the Boston University CTE Center and the VA-BU-CLF Brain Bank, a collaboration with Boston University and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, where he currently serves as the outreach, recruitment, education, and public policy leader. Chris has quite a story to tell. He was an elite athlete in high school, but that certainly was not his only identity. He excelled in the classroom, theater, and also participated in academic competitions. Excelling in football and school led him to Harvard University where he was an All-Ivy defensive tackle. After college, he tried out and ended up breaking through as a professional wrestler with WWE. It was during his time at the WWE where he experienced a concussion that ended his wrestling career. That concussion sparked his journey into finding out more about concussions and learning everything he could about them. Chris is interested in psychology, sociology, and neurology, and how all three impact human life. He's a risk taker and purpose-driven person, who believes in hard science and data to make decisions. It’s clear that his curiosity and persistence has helped him change how we view concussions. For that, I know I am grateful for all of the work that he has done and continues to do. You can read Chris' book Head Games and he's active on social media: Twitter: @ChrisNowinski1 @ConcussionLF Facebook: @nowinski.christopher @ConcussionFoundation Instagram: @christophernowinski @concussionfoundation You can also check out the work that Chris and his colleagues are doing at the ConcussionFoundation. Thanks to Chris for coming on the show and hope everyone is now a little bit more informed as a result of this conversation.