Journal of Spine

Matthew W. Smuck

Biography

 Dr. Matthew Smuck is the Chief of PM&R and Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at Stanford University, and is the Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services for Stanford Healthcare. He specializes in the comprehensive conservative management of spine disorders at the Stanford University Spine Center. He received his medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. Afterward he completed his residency training in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at Stanford University, followed by a one year Spine Fellowship at Stanford. 

Dr. Smuck is a Deputy Editor of The Spine Journal, Co-Editor of the Orthopedics Knowledge Update in Spine, 4th edition and is on the Assistant Editorial Board of the European Spine Journal. He serves multiple leadership roles in prominent national and international physician societies. This includes sitting on the Board of Directors for the International Spine Intervention Society, and serving as Chairman of the North American Spine Society’s Advanced Lumbar Spine Injection Course. He has published numerous book chapters and scientific articles, and he remains and active researcher. 

Dr. Smuck is a pioneer in the new field of objective tracking of physical performance in musculoskeletal diseases. He leads the Wearable Health Lab at Stanford, applying rigorous medical research methodology and advanced statistics to the analysis of mobile technology data with the goal of creating new insights into human diseases and developing novel tools for disease detection and prevention. His research was recognized with best research awards at the annual meetings of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine in 2012; the International Spine Intervention Society in 2011, 2012, 2013 & 2014; the North American Spine Society in 2009 and 2013; and the American Academy of PM&R in 2011, 2013 & 2014. His research has won several prestigious awards including The Spine Journal’s 2013 Outstanding Paper Award for Medical and Interventional Science, the AAPM&R’s 2014 President’s Citation Award, and the Foundation for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation’s 2015 PM&R Journal Best Original Research Award. Dr. Smuck lectures on his research, and on spine and rehabilitation topics at medical conferences and Universities around the world.

Research Interest

 He specializes in precision diagnosis and comprehensive treatment of cervical, thoracic and lumbar spine disorders. Hisresearch interests lie in objective measures of activity and outcomes assessment in musculoskeletal diseases, and in maximizing the effectiveness and safety of percutaneous spine interventions.