Concussion Awareness and Education Act of 2014

Concussion Awareness and Education Act of 2014 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to: (1) establish and oversee a national system to accurately determine the incidence of sports-related concussions, and (2) begin implementation of such system within one year of this Act's enactment.

Requires the data collected to include:

• the incidence of sports related concussions in individuals 5 through 21 years of age;
• demographic information of the injured individuals;
• pre-existing conditions of the injured individuals;
• the concussion history of the injured individuals;
• the use of protective equipment and impact monitoring devices;
• the qualifications of personnel diagnosing the concussions; and
• the cause, nature, and extent of the concussive injury.

Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Secretary of Defense (DOD), acting in coordination, to conduct or support: (1) research designed to establish metrics and markers of concussion diagnosis, prognosis, and recovery in youth and to inform the creation of guidelines for the management of short- and long-term sequelae of concussion in youth; (2) studies to assess short- and long-term cognitive, emotional, behavioral, neurobiological, and neuropathological consequences of concussions and repetitive head impacts over a life span; and (3) research on age- and sex-related biomechanical determinants of injury risk for concussion in youth.

Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of techniques, rules, and playing, practice, and training standards in reducing concussions and sequelae for sports and physical training at military service academies and for military personnel.

Calls for the National Collegiate Athletic Association to undertake a scientific evaluation of the effectiveness of age-appropriate techniques, rules, and playing and practice standards in reducing sports-related concussions and sequelae.

Requires: (1) the Director of NIH to maintain a national brain tissue and biological sample repository to collect, archive, and distribute material for research on concussions; (2) such Director and the Secretary of Defense to develop standards, best practices, and guidelines for the rules of play and training, respectively, for sports, athletic, and military training and engagement that are designed to prevent or reduce the incidence of concussions and that include standards for effective protective equipment and recommendations on impact-monitoring systems; and (3) the Director of CDC to develop and disseminate to the public information regarding concussions.

Establishes a Concussion Research Commission, which shall study the programs and activities conducted pursuant to this Act and formulate systemic recommendations to increase knowledge about, and change the culture surrounding, concussions.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov