Greetings, members of ASB! Believe it or not, our 47th Annual Meeting is just around the corner from August 5th – 8th in Madison, WI! This year’s program has been assembled with help from an outstanding committee, including Robin Queen (Program Chair-Elect), Claire Milner, Daniel Ludvig, Monica Daley, and Russell Johnson. The committee has worked diligently over the past several months to create an engaging scientific program, and I’m excited to share a bit about what’s in store for this year’s meeting. We received just under 800 abstract submissions this year and several submissions for workshops and symposia.

This year’s program includes a set of seven pre-conference workshops, six symposia, two invited keynote lectures, 23 traditional podium sessions, eight thematic poster sessions, two standard poster sessions, several award sessions, and an in-conference research study. This year’s podium and thematic sessions are organized across nine themes, including AI and Machine Learning, Assistive Technologies and Robotics, Balance and Falls, Locomotion and Aging, Modeling and Simulation, Movement Disorders and Rehabilitation, Muscle Mechanics, Orthopaedic Biomechanics, and Sports and Injury Biomechanics. Altogether, a total of about 140 oral presentations, 600 regular posters, and 48 thematic posters will be presented at this year’s meeting. I’d like to give a huge thank you to all those who volunteered their time to review the submitted abstracts. If you are planning to present, please see the presentation guidelines as you prepare to share your work in Madison.

On Tuesday, the 6th, Dr. Robert Guldberg, the DeArmond Executive Director of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Vice President of the University of Oregon, will give the first keynote lecture of the meeting. Dr. Guldberg’s research focuses on musculoskeletal mechanobiology, regenerative medicine, and orthopaedic medical devices. Dr. Leena Sharma, Chang-Lee Professor of Preventative Rheumatology and Director of Northwestern’s Program in Preventative Rheumatology, will give the second keynote lecture. Dr. Sharma and her team develop novel approaches to prevent disease and disability development and progression in persons at high risk for or with knee osteoarthritis.

We look forward to the lectures associated with ASB’s honorary awards, including the Borelli Award, Founders’ Award, Goel Award, Early Career Achievement Award, Predoctoral Award, Junior Faculty Research Award, and Up and Comer Award. We also look forward to hearing from the finalists for the Clinical Biomechanics Journal Award, the Journal of Biomechanics Award, and our 3-minute Thesis Contest. Last but certainly not least, congratulations to the winners of our Junior Faculty Research Grant, Student Travel Awards, Graduate Student Grants-in-Aid, and awardees from the B-SURE Program.

This year, we also have several events hosted in and around the conference site by our non-profit partners and affinity groups (https://asbweb.org/affinity-groups/), as well as a Job Market Poster Session from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August  7th. Additional details about the meeting, including the schedule-at-a-glance and the list of all oral and poster presentations, can be found at https://asbweb.org/asb-2024/. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the accompanying letter from the meeting chair, Peter Adamczyk, to learn more about conference-related activities that will be happening in and around Madison. I look forward to seeing you all in Madison!