Biomechanics on our Minds

This is a special episode all about the Boston Marathon. The 129th Boston Marathon will take place on April 21, 2025 and holds a special place in the hearts of those in this episode. There are also 174 charities participating in the marathon. See below on how to show your support. Our guest in this episode is Dr. Kristin Whitney, who is an Assistant Professor in Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at...

Thank you for six incredible years. Biomechanics on our minds!

Our guest in this episode is Jenn Heil, a Canadian freestyle skier, two-time Olympic medalist, and reigning world champion in dual moguls. Jenn is a Guinness World Record Holder, Canadian Order of Sport Recipient, Stanford Graduate School of Business Leadership Award Winner, Founder of a startup focused on improving maternal mental health, and a mother of two boys herself. We talk about Jenn’s exp...

This is Part 3 of our series on human performance supported by the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance! In this episode, we talked with Dr. Satchin Panda, a professor in the Regulatory Biology Laboratory and the Rita and Richard Atkinson Chair at the Salk Institute, as well as the Director of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance at Salk. Satchin is an expert researcher on circadian rhythms, even...

Welcome to Part 2 of the Human Performance Series supported by the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance! In this episode, we talked with NiCole Keith who is a Professor at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and the current president of American College Sports Medicine. NiCole shared her research in health equity and physical activity and the importance of making physical activity acce...

In this episode, we interview Caroline Kryder, the Women’s Health Lead and Product Marketing Manager at Oura, a company that makes a smart ring device to track sleep, physical activity, and much more. Caroline shares how Oura is working to close the gap in Women’s health research and how they use customer insights to provide meaningful and actionable data-driven health feedback. We learn about the...

We talked to Dr. Ryan McGinnis, an Associate Professor and Assistant Director in the department of electrical and biomedical engineering at the University of Vermont. He leads the M-Sense research group which takes the tools we make in biomechanics and empowers people out in the real world. We discuss the importance of user-centered design and research and how this is key to success in all of Ryan...

In this episode, we are joined by Professor Rafael Reimann Baptista. Rafael is a professor in the School of Health and Life Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. He coordinates the Laboratory of Evaluation and Research in Physical Activity, currently carrying out studies on the biomechanics of gait in older adults. He was also the President of the XVII Braz...

In this epsiode, we are joined by Jonas Grau Thomsen, the CEO of Nordic Bionics. When Jonas was six, he was told that I would only be able to walk for ten more years. This was the beginning of his search for a bionic solution. Now, he is an expert wheelchair user and exoskeleton influencer. His goal is to get exoskeletons out of the lab and into the world. He shares stories as an exoskeleton teste...

In this episode, Dr. Ray Browning and Dr. Zach Lerner shared their experiences, stories, and wisdom with us on their journeys in biomechanics, collaboration, and founding the rehabilitation robotics company Biomotum. Biomotum is currently developing robotic systems that help people improve their mobility by not only assisting motion but also training and rehabilitating the body. It was great to he...

In this episode, Brent Shaw joins us to talk about topics including goal setting, avoiding distractions, and enjoying the journey. Brent is the Director of Research at The Darrow Stem Cell Institute as well as a personal coach and host of the Student Performance Podcast. Brent shared science-backed tips and really actionable advice to help you achieve your goals! Try out the Organized Researcher Q...

Happy 2023! We start the year off with a wonderful conversation with Professor Silvia Blemker from the University of Virginia and who is the CSO/co-founder of Springbok Analytics. She talked about her lab’s research exploring muscle from cellular to whole-body levels and also on neuromuscular disorders like Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Silvia highlights the importance of teaching students diverse...

In this episode, Professor Antonia Zaferiou shares her journey through art and science to becoming an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, as well as some of the exciting research projects in her lab. We discuss her recent and innovative NSF CAREER Award project using adaptive biofeedback (think the strings section of an orchestra resp...

Today we are talking with Professor Jacob Goodin. Jacob is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, California, and was previously the head strength and conditioning coach and sport scientist for Eastern Tennessee State University's men’s and women’s tennis teams. We learn more about Jacob’s work in the lab and as a biomechanics teacher for many student...

We had a great conversation with Professor Nadia Azar, an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Windsor. For the first time on BOOM, we learn about the biomechanics of drumming and playing other musical instruments. Nadia shares her findings on the mechanics of how playing-related injuries occur and how to prevent them, along with her own journey through biomechanics and music, a...

This Student Voices episode is hosted by Michael Rose, a former clinical research coordinator and soon-to-be PhD student. In the episode Michael interviews three friends and colleagues – Ophelie Herve from UCLA, Gabi Diaz from CU Boulder, and Garrett Weidig from Michigan State University – on their experiences starting their PhD programs in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics range from inte...

We talked with Professor Hamid Charkhkar from Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland VA Medical Center and Anna Smith, a former Case Western student and research assistant in Professor Charkhkar’s neuroprosthesis group. We discussed the importance of being open to feedback from all stakeholders for human-centered research, how to translate that into holistic treatment strategies persona...

This month we have two awesome interviews with people developing approaches to apply biomechanics in practice so things like performance training or even just standard weight training but in a safer way. This episode is Part 2 with Bill DeSimone. Bill is a personal trainer who focuses on teaching and sharing biomechanics-informed training to help prevent injury and improve performance. Part 1 was...

If you’re interested in learning more about how research in biomechanics can be translated into real and practical guidelines for improving training performance and safety, this episode is for you! We learn about putting biomechanics into practice with Dr. Bryon Weinberg and Dr. Patrick Welsh from Athletic Movement Assessment. Bryon and Patrick are doctors of chiropractic medicine who develop move...

In this episode we talk with Professor Robin Queen, a professor at Virginia Tech in the department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics and the principal investigator of the Kevin P. Granata Biomechanics Lab. We discuss her diverse research projects including how she investigates the intersection of race and biomechanics and how she is developing better biomechanical metrics to better quantify...

In this episode we talk with Maria Holland, Assistant Professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Notre Dame. We talked about the implications of different properties of the brain and how we can apply biomechanics to study brain growth such as changes in folding and cortical thickness. Thank you to our sponsors! SageMotion: sagemotion.com Support BOOM on Patreon: https:/...

We had so much fun talking to Professor Ashley Weaver, Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Wake Forest School of Medicine about both her impactful research and educational projects. Her research spans three themes: 1) injury/crash biomechanics to improve car safety design elements 2) osteoporosis in aging and 3) the effects of space and microgravity on astronaut musculoskeletal sy...

Happy 50th episode of BOOM! The tables are turned on the "BOOM doctors" Hannah and Melissa and they answer YOUR questions about BOOM, biomechanics, the future, fails, and more. A note from your hosts... We are SO grateful for all of your support since the beginning of BOOM. We've loved being on this journey with you and can't wait to see what the future holds for BOOM and biomechanics. Much love,...

In this episode we talk to Jonathan Samir Matthis, tenure-track professor of human movement neuroscience in Boston and founder of the FreeMoCap Foundation. We discuss how FreeMocap is collaboratively and thoughtfully “duct-taping together” open-source software to make it more accessible and usable for all. Connect with Jon Matthis! FreeMoCap website: freemocap.org Twitter: @JonMatthis Connect with...

Our guest today is Dr. Mike Sonne, chief scientist at Three Motion AI where they use biomechanics to elevate athlete training and performance in baseball! We learn about how to translate biomechanical evaluations into useable applications like quantifying changes in performance. While you don’t need to be a baseball expert to enjoy this epsiode, we think you’ll be excited to see how biomechanics i...