Scott M. Lephart joined the College of Health Sciences as Dean in March 2015. He also serves as a professor and endowed chair of orthopaedic research and is the founder of the Sports Medicine Research Institute at UK. His research interests include musculoskeletal sports and military injury prevention and performance optimization.

He branded the college as the “gateway to the health sciences” shortly after coming on board and executes the college’s vision to provide all who walk through CHS doors the pathway of their choosing to the healthcare world.  

Dr. Lephart has more than 35 years of experience in neuromuscular and biomechanical analysis of human movement associated with musculoskeletal injury, surgery, rehabilitation, and prevention. His research has resulted in more than 215 published papers and more than 315 national and international presentations. He has been invited to deliver 20 keynote lectures at professional events round the world.

Before coming to Kentucky, Dr. Lephart served as a distinguished professor and chair of the department of sports medicine and nutrition and as the founding director of the Neuromuscular Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. He led multiple Department of Defense research grants to establish Warrior Human Performance Center  laboratories across the country focused on uncovering injury patterns and prevention among the military US Special Operations Command.  This research is still ongoing at UK and has been awarded more than $50M from the Department of Defense.

He completed his undergraduate degree at Marietta College in Marietta, OH and both his masters and doctoral degrees in sports medicine at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.