Rate My Professor Max Jordon

Max Jordon, PT, DPT, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2008, his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of South Carolina in 2011, and his PhD in Exercise Science with a major in Rehabilitative Sciences from the University of South Carolina in 2019. Following his DPT, Jordon worked as a full-time clinician in an outpatient orthopedic practice while pursuing his doctorate, during which he specialized in chronic pain and low back pain management. He joined the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2019 as an Assistant Professor and advanced to Associate Professor. As part of the orthopedic faculty, he teaches spine and upper extremity disorders and treats patients in the student-run Pro Bono Physical Therapy Clinic at University Health Services.

Jordon's research centers on the interactions between pain and motor control in chronic low back pain, utilizing functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activation and functional connectivity during lumbopelvic motor tasks. His publications include "Task-Based Functional Connectivity and Blood-Oxygen-Level-Dependent Activation During Within-Scanner Performance of Lumbopelvic Motor Tasks: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study" (2022), "Duration of Electro-Dry Needling Does Not Change the Pain Response Following Repeated Nociceptive Thermal Stimuli in Asymptomatic Individuals" (2023), "Optimal Dosage of Electro Dry Needling for Reduction of Temporal Summation in an Asymptomatic Population" (2024), "Thermal temporal summation has good reliability in the lumbar region" (2025), and "Design and Evaluation of a Pneumatic-Actuated Active Balance Board for Sitting Postural Control" (2025). He engages in interdisciplinary collaborations with engineering faculty, contributing to a U.S. patent for a pneumatic balance board for rehabilitation and securing grants such as a $5,422 AMBUCS award for investigating seating fit impacts on pedaling initiation. Jordon serves as Parliamentarian for the UTC Faculty Senate, chaired the Curriculum Committee during the CAPTE accreditation process, and led the Nominating Committee for the Pain Special Interest Group within the Orthopedic Section. His efforts enhance physical therapy education, pain management techniques, and innovative rehabilitation technologies.