It is hard to believe we are less than 2 months from the 49th American Society of Biomechanics Annual Meeting which will be held in Pittsburgh at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from August 13th-16th. The program for this year’s meeting has been assembled by a phenomenal program committee including Kim Bigelow (Program Chair Elect), Peter C. Fino, Jason Franz, Alexa Johnson, Maria Ramos Gonzalez, and Meghan Vidt. Please join me in thanking these amazing scholars for their dedication to ASB and the development of this program. Send them emails, stop them during the annual meeting, and/or find them on social media to thank them for all they have done to curate an exceptional scientific meeting based on the submitted abstracts, workshops, and symposia.

The 2025 Annual Meeting is a packed program beginning with workshops at 9:00 am on Wednesday through the Business Meeting that will end at 5:45 pm on Saturday. The program includes seven pre-conference workshops, five symposia, two invited keynote lectures, 15 traditional podium sessions, seven thematic poster sessions, two poster sessions, five award sessions, an in-conference research study, and the inaugural ASB Debate. This year’s podium and thematic sessions are organized across fourteen themes that were identified based on the number of abstracts submitted using the first keyword selected by the authors with the goal of highlighting the breadth of biomechanics research. These themes include AI and Machine Learning, Assistive Devices, Balance, Aging, Locomotion, Modeling, Rehabilitation, Muscle Mechanics, Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Sports Biomechanics, Methods and Validation, Imaging, Animal & Comparative Biomechanics, and Wearables. I’d like to say thank you to all those who volunteered their time to review the submitted abstracts and provide feedback that was invaluable for the program committee. If you are planning to present, please see the presentation guidelines as you prepare to share your work in Pittsburgh.

On Thursday, August 14th, Dr. Rory Cooper, the founding director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories, a joint center of the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) and US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from the University of Pittsburgh will give the first keynote lecture. Dr. Suzanne Maher will present the second keynote lecture on August 15th. Dr. Maher is the Associate Director of the Department of Biomechanics and Co-Director of the Soft Tissue Research Program at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS). In addition, she is a Professor of Applied Biomechanics in Orthopaedic Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine and an Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. We look forward to the lectures associated with ASB’s honorary awards, including the Borelli, Founders’, Goel, Early Career Achievement Award, Predoctoral Award, Junior Faculty Research Award, and the 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. You can read more about these in the Awards update. Last but certainly not least, congratulations to the winners of our Junior Faculty Research Grant, Student Travel Awards, Graduate Student Research Grants, 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 pm on Friday, August 17th. Additional details about the meeting, including the schedule-at-a-glance can be found on the ASB 2025 website. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to check out the accompanying section from our amazing meeting chair, Kurt Beschorner, to learn more about conference-related activities that will be happening in and around Pittsburgh. Please make sure you say hello and provide any suggestions and feedback leading up to and throughout the annual meeting (asbprogramchair@asbweb.org). I am looking forward to working with Kurt to welcome everyone to Pittsburgh!

Finally, keep an eye on the ASB website, the ASB social media accounts (Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, BlueSky, and Threads), and your email for further updates, including registration and housing information and the launch of the meeting app in early July along with other important details as the meeting approaches. I look forward to seeing you all in Pittsburgh for a fun and educational ASB 2025!