OSU adds expert in military and athletics musculoskeletal health
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Media Contact: Sydney Trainor | Communications and Media Relations Specialist | 405-744-9782 | sydney.trainor@okstate.edu
Bird joins HPNRI as performance science coordinator
When it comes to understanding how the body performs under extreme physically demanding environments, Dr. Matthew Bird brings research expertise and hands-on experience.
Bird, who specializes in military and athletic musculoskeletal health and human performance optimization, joins Oklahoma State University as a performance science coordinator in the Human Performance and Nutrition Research Institute.
In this role, Bird will lead applied research initiatives focused on human performance optimization and musculoskeletal injury risk factor identification to provide clinicians with better tools and prevention strategies. Musculoskeletal refers to the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, joints and cartilage in a person’s body.
“Dr. Bird brings outstanding expertise and energy to his collaboration with the Tactical Fitness and Nutrition Lab, helping drive innovative research and practical solutions for tactical populations,” said Dr. Jay Dawes, professor of applied exercise science and co-director of the Tactical Fitness and Nutrition Lab. “His commitment to advancing performance and wellness has made him a valuable partner in our work.’
Bird brings extensive experience in musculoskeletal health research, particularly
within military and athletic high-performance settings.
He has worked across the U.S. military services — including Army, Navy and Marine Corps — developing innovative strategies to reduce musculoskeletal injury risk and enhance human performance. His research uses advanced tools such as motion capture, force plates and machine learning to identify musculoskeletal injury risks and design effective interventions.
Before joining OSU, Bird served as a musculoskeletal health researcher at the Department of Defense – Defense Health Agency, Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence (EACE). His work focused on developing predictive musculoskeletal injury triage tools designed to enhance clinicians' treatment of Service Members. These tools aimed to help medical professionals quickly assess musculoskeletal injury risk factors and determine optimal treatment pathways, ultimately improving care outcomes for military personnel.
Bird earned his Ph.D. and B.S. in Exercise Physiology from Texas A&M University. During his Ph.D., Bird worked at the University of Pittsburgh Neuromuscular Reseach Laboratory helping lead multiple federally funded grants. His dissertation work created predictive models that combine machine learning with markerless motion capture to identify Marines at highest risk for musculoskeletal injuries, providing military medical personnel with validated and actionable screening tools.
In addition to his research role, Bird serves as an adjunct clinical assistant professor at the OSU Center for Health Sciences.
Bird also brings practical sport science experience from both collegiate athletics at Pittsburgh and Texas A&M where he implemented performance monitoring technologies and provided data-driven recommendations to coaching and medical staff.
“Dr. Bird is a scientist with unique expertise in military health and applied performance science that will advance the HPNRI mission,” said Lance Walker, Rick and Gail Muncrief Executive Director, HPNRI. “Drawing from military and health research on U.S. service members, his work will drive both discovery and delivery of practical performance and health solutions impacting athletes, students, workers and communities across the state and beyond.