Lionheart Health, Inc., a company specializing in bioelectric regenerative medicine and healthspan optimization technologies, announced that Dr. Joseph C. Maroon has joined its Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board. Dr. Maroon is a board-certified neurosurgeon and internationally recognized authority in brain health, sports neurosurgery, concussion management, neuroinflammation, and longevity science. He serves as Clinical Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and has been Team Neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers for decades.
Dr. Maroon's appointment strengthens Lionheart Health's commitment to advancing evidence-based bioelectric stimulation therapies designed to improve cognition, memory, and mood while supporting neuroplasticity and reducing systemic and neuroinflammation. The company's multi-modality platform includes technologies like BodStim™ and Brain Band™, which align with Dr. Maroon's focus on neuroprotection, inflammation reduction, and performance longevity. Howard Leonhardt, Founder and Executive Chairman of Lionheart Health, stated that Dr. Maroon's work bridging neuroscience, inflammation control, and longevity science aligns with the company's mission to increase healthspan through measurable improvements in muscle, brain, and immune function.
Lionheart Health is advancing multiple clinical initiatives focused on improving functional biomarkers of aging, including grip strength, gait speed, cognition, memory, inflammatory markers, and regenerative protein expression. Dr. Maroon will advise on brain health clinical study design, neurocognitive endpoint validation, concussion and neuroinflammation applications, and the translation of regenerative signaling science into clinical protocols. He commented that optimizing brain health is central to extending meaningful healthspan and that he looks forward to supporting Lionheart Health's efforts to scientifically validate innovative bioelectric therapies.
The company's intellectual property portfolio includes patents and patent-pending technologies targeting key regenerative and neuroprotective signaling pathways such as Klotho, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), GDF10, SDF-1, PDGF, and eNOS. These pathways are recognized for their roles in neuroplasticity, synaptic resilience, angiogenesis, stem cell homing, endothelial health, and inflammation modulation. Through its bioelectric stimulation platforms, Lionheart Health aims to modulate these regenerative protein expressions to support cognitive performance, memory retention, mood stability, and neurovascular integrity.
Brain health represents one of three core pillars in which Lionheart Health is competing in the Semi-Finals of the $101M XPRIZE Healthspan Competition. The company's Brain Band™ recently received a UCI Capstone Grant, providing engineering researchers to advance device optimization and signal validation. Lionheart Health has also been recognized as 2025 Micro Stimulator Developer of the Year by Medtech Outlook Magazine, won the Abbvie Allergan ULP Innovation Award, and was a finalist in both the Orange County Business Journal's Innovator of the Year Awards and Octane's Life Sciences Technology Company of the Year Award.
The company has completed successful pre-clinical studies at AccuLab Life Sciences in San Diego and a pilot clinical study in Brazil. Lionheart Health is preparing to enroll soon in a combination BodStim™ bioelectric stimulation exercise suit and Brain Band™ clinical trial for brain health. Both therapies have separately demonstrated statistically significant improvements in brain health in previous standalone studies. Dr. Maroon brings more than four decades of leadership in academic neurosurgery, clinical innovation, and performance medicine, with over 300 peer-reviewed publications and multiple textbooks in neurosurgery, inflammation science, and sports medicine. His research has contributed to understanding neuroinflammation, omega-3 fatty acids in brain protection, performance longevity, and integrative strategies for preserving cognitive function across the lifespan.
