Rate My Professor Matthew Wittbrodt

Dr. Matthew Wittbrodt is a health science researcher whose academic journey began at Grand Valley State University, where he earned a B.S. in Exercise Science in 2010. He continued his studies with an M.S. in Exercise Physiology from Western Michigan University in 2012 and a Ph.D. in Applied Physiology, with a minor in Psychology, from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2018. Following his doctorate, he undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine, focusing on novel interventions for trauma and PTSD. Currently, as a Quantitative Research Engineer in Research and Development at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, Wittbrodt leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve patient care. His projects include developing tools that assist clinicians in diagnosis and automate workflows at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

Wittbrodt's research specializations include the physiological and cognitive effects of dehydration and heat stress, sex differences in performance, transcutaneous cervical vagal nerve stimulation (tcVNS) for modulating stress responses in PTSD and other psychiatric disorders, brain responses to stress, and the application of generative AI in medical imaging such as chest radiographs and achalasia diagnosis. He has authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed papers and two book chapters, and presented at national conferences, including a highlighted symposium at the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting. Key publications feature "Dehydration impairs cognitive performance: a meta-analysis" (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2018), "Nature versus nurture: have performance gaps between men and women reached an asymptote?" (International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2018), "Diet, stress and mental health" (Nutrients, 2020), tcVNS studies such as "Quantifying acute physiological biomarkers of transcutaneous cervical vagal nerve stimulation in the context of psychological stress" (Brain Stimulation, 2020), and recent AI-health works like "Generative artificial intelligence for chest radiograph interpretation in the emergency department" (JAMA Network Open, 2023). His contributions have earned more than 2,300 citations on Google Scholar and media attention from NPR, Forbes, Newsweek, Popular Science, Reuters, Runner’s World, and CNN. Notable awards include the Carl Gisolfi Research Grant (American College of Sports Medicine, 2015), Military Physiology Predoctoral Research Award (American Physiological Society, 2017), Outstanding Student in Exercise Science (Grand Valley State University, 2010), and Rising Star Award (Western Michigan University, 2012).