Matt Ithurburn, PT, DPT, PhD, is the director of Clinical Research at the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) in Birmingham, Alabama. ASMI is an international leader in sports medicine research, focused on studying surgical and rehabilitation outcomes, biomechanics, and injury mechanisms to improve the prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries. In his role at ASMI, Ithurburn leads a multidisciplinary clinical research team managing multiple externally-funded studies, ongoing outcomes data repositories, and multisite collaborative projects.

At Samford, Ithurburn serves as the interim research director for Project SAMson. Project SAMson is a combined initiative by Samford University, Samford University Athletics, Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center, ASMI, Samford University’s Brock School of Business and College of Health Sciences, and the Center for Sports Analytics. Project SAMson brings the sports science and injury prevention technology, data analysis, and sports medicine practices together in one place to enhance the performance and health of all Samford student-athletes across 17 NCAA Division I programs.

Beyond his roles at ASMI and with Samford and Project SAMson, he further collaborates with researchers at Ohio State University, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, the Green Bay Packers, and the University of Pittsburgh on multiple studies seeking to improve rehabilitation and return-to-sport success in individuals recovering from lower extremity injuries, including those with ACL reconstruction, femoroacetabular impingement, and hip dysplasia.

In addition to his research involvement,  Ithurburn also has an adjunct faculty appointment at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the School of Health Professions and Graduate School, guest lecturing in the DPT program and mentoring PhD students.