International Society of Biomechanics
Gold sponsor
Delsys

September 2026

presidents-blog

Dear ISB community,

Welcome to the September edition of ISB Now.

ISB 2027 is approaching fast. I have been thinking about this Congress for years now.

Preparing for a congress of this magnitude reminds me a little of hosting friends for dinner at home. You plan ahead, choose what you will serve, organize everything, and spend a lot of time making sure that when the day comes, everybody will enjoy being there. In my case, of course, that special meal would probably be a Gaúcho barbecue – be my guest!

But you know what? You can prepare the best barbecue, have everything ready, and spend hours around the fire. If only a few of your invited friends make it to your house, the experience will not be the same. You will miss something, someone.

A memorable ISB Congress is not so different.

In my previous blogs, I wrote about the enormous amount of work that happens behind the scenes before we see the final result. ISB 2027 is already the result of this kind of work. Many people are investing their time and energy to prepare a fantastic Congress in Sydney. But one essential ingredient for the successful congress is you.

The success of ISB 2027 will ultimately depend on our community accepting the invitation and participating. One example is already happening. I really appreciate the initiative of the local organizers to open a call for expressions of interest to propose Special Sessions intended to highlight emerging, cross-cutting, or transformative topics that extend beyond traditional abstract-presentation formats. Give people space and support, and they will deliver.

International congresses are always busy, but imagine having a dedicated session at an ISB Congress to bring your collaborators together and discuss an emerging idea that you believe deserves attention. Connect with your colleagues, develop your idea, and consider submitting a proposal by October 30th.

And Sydney is not the only space we are preparing for our community.

Over the past years, the ISB Executive Council has discussed the need to modernize our online platforms, enhance our reach, strengthen our connection with members, and find better ways to attract younger generations to the excellent content our community produces.

After months of work and a lot of behind-the-scenes effort, this September we are starting the transition to a fully renewed ISB website and a new platform for Biomch-L. Biomch-L will be modernized and integrated into the new website, while preserving its remarkable history and archive of content. Over the coming weeks and months, you will start to see some of the changes we have been working on, including a renewed visual identity for the Society.

ISB 2027 will provide a physical place for our community to meet. Our new digital platforms should provide better spaces for this community to remain connected, exchange knowledge, and create opportunities throughout the years between our congresses.

This brings me back to something I have written about before: opportunity.

ISB can create opportunities. We can prepare a Congress, provide travel grants, recognize people through awards, create Special Sessions, develop educational initiatives, and build new platforms. But an opportunity only becomes meaningful when someone takes it. And many invitations are coming.

Over the next few months, watch for deadlines to submit your abstract to ISB 2027, apply for travel grants and awards, propose activities, and take part in the opportunities surrounding the Congress, including the satellite events organized by the ISB Technical Groups. Make sure you follow the ISB 2027 communication channels and don't let an opportunity that could be yours pass unnoticed.

When we host friends at home, we can prepare the food, set the table, and make sure everything is ready. But what makes the gathering memorable is the people who come, the conversations around the table, and the moments we create together.

We are preparing the table for Sydney, and we want all our friends around it. We want our community together.

 

Felipe Carpes
ISB President
Federal University of Pampa, Brazil

 

PS. Never forget: when you become a member of ISB, you are not only adding your name to a list. You are strengthening a global network that supports students, empowers researchers, and advances biomechanics worldwide.

Back to Table of Contents

Here, you will uncover historical information about the society. Enjoy these nuggets curated by John Challis, our Archives Officer.  

 

eadweard-muybridge mimi-koehl
Eadweard Muybridge
(1830-1904)		 Mimi Koehl





The Muybridge Award is the most prestigious award of the International Society of Biomechanics. It is awarded for career achievements in biomechanics, and is named after Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904), who performed pioneering work on the use of cinematography for the study of human and animal movements. The twelfth winner of this award was Mimi A. R. Koehl, a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She was the first woman to win this award.

One of Muybridge's collections of images was published in his book "Animal Locomotion", first published in 1887. He would have appreciated Mimi's award lecture, which was on the "Effects of ambient wind or water flow on locomotion". Her talk reflects the focus of her research on how organisms interact with one another, and their environment.

Mimi received a BA in biology from Gettysburg College. At Duke University she studied under the comparative biomechanist Stephen Wainwright, graduating in 1976 with a PhD in zoology. After Duke, Koehl went on to two postdocs, first at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, where she studied with Richard R. Strathmann, and then at the University of York, where she studied with John Currey. After a brief stint at Brown University, she joined the faculty at University of California, Berkeley in 1979. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, at University of California, Berkeley.

Mimi is a member of many distinguished societies (e.g., California Academy of Science, National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science), the recipient of honorary degrees (e.g., Gettysburg College, and Bates College), and society awards (e.g., the Borelli Award from the American Society of Biomechanics, Rachel Carson Award from the American Geophysical Union, and the John Martin Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography). Mimi is also the subject of a book (Parks, 2005), which is part of a ten-book series "Women's Adventures in Sciences". The book is designed for school-age students (11 years old and up) but has appeal to a broader audience.

 

Reference

Parks, D. A. (2005). Nature's Machines: The Story of Biomechanist Mimi Koehl. Washington, D.C.: Franklin Watts.

Back to Table of Contents

Calling for Nominations for ISB Elections!

ISB members are welcome to nominate themselves or other candidates (to Past President Liz Clarke, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

 

This is the first Call for nominations for the ISB President-Elect and ISB Executive Council Elections for the term 2027-2029.

Every two years ISB members elect a new President-Elect, Executive Council, and Student Representative. The Executive Council members are elected for a 2-year term, with a maximum of three terms, and shall represent various scientific areas within biomechanics and countries from throughout the world. The Executive Council meets every year (one meeting at the ISB Congress, the other in another place feasible to the majority) and provides leadership for the continued development of the Society and oversees the many on-going activities that are performed by Council appointed sub-committees, including activities in Economically Developing Countries, student grants, and student awards. The President-Elect will become President two years later, in 2029, and is responsible for coordinating the proposals for the 2031 ISB Congress. The Student Representative is elected for a 2-year term and serves as the link between student members and the Executive Council, advocating for student perspectives while supporting student engagement, initiatives and events.

It is my duty as Past-president to serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee as well as solicit nominations for President-Elect and Executive Council Members from the ISB membership.

I therefore encourage you to nominate individuals from the ISB membership for these positions. All nominations must be agreed to by the person being nominated. Self-nominations must be endorsed by a current member of the executive council or an ISB Fellow. Nominations should consist of:

  • the name of the individual
  • a photo
  • a brief biography (no more than 250 words)

and emailed to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please include "Nomination for ISB Election" in the email subject line, and ensure you receive a return email confirming receipt of the nomination.

Once nominations have been received an anonymous ballot will be administered by the ISB Treasurer approximately 3 months prior to the biennial congress (this time Sydney 2027, July 18-22).

Please note that all President and Executive Council members are unpaid and are required to cover their own costs for travel and accommodation to the annual council meetings.

We encourage all members who are interested in serving ISB to consider nominating, and welcome candidates from all experiences and regions. Nominations will remain open throughout 2026, with the closing date confirmed in the December ISB Now newsletter.

 

Liz Clarke
ISB Past President

Back to Table of Contents

 

ISB 2027 is taking shape, with several exciting opportunities to contribute to the scientific program.

 

Special session and Pre-congress tutorial submissions closing soon

A reminder that proposals for Special Sessions close on 30 October 2026, so now is the time to submit your ideas for focused sessions that bring the biomechanics community together around important and emerging topics. Click here to submit your proposal.

We are also inviting proposals for Pre-Congress Tutorials, offering experienced researchers and research teams the opportunity to share contemporary techniques, tools and skills with the international biomechanics community through engaging, two-hour sessions. Find out more here.

 

Abstract submissions opening soon

Abstract submissions will also be opening soon, giving researchers the opportunity to showcase their latest work at ISB 2027. Keep an eye on the ISB 2027 website for further information and updates as abstract submissions open. More information regarding the call for abstracts can be found here.

 

Stay informed

To make sure you don’t miss the latest announcements, key dates, program news and submission opportunities, join the ISB 2027 mailing list here.

Back to Table of Contents

ISB 2027: Pre-congress tutorials

  • Format:    Two-hour session
  • Slots available:    Four tutorials
  • Honorarium:    USD 2,000 per tutorial
  • Deadline:    Friday, 30 October 2026
  • Proposal submission:    Click here to submit a proposal

 

At each ISB Congress, four pre-congress tutorials are offered to delegates who wish to gain additional training in contemporary techniques, tools, and skills relevant to biomechanics research. These tutorials also provide experienced researchers and research teams with a unique opportunity to share their expertise with the international biomechanics community.

ISB provides administrative and logistical support for all tutorials. In addition, tutors receive an honorarium of USD 2,000 to help cover expenses (to be shared among tutors if a tutorial is delivered by multiple presenters).

Tutorials are delivered as two-hour sessions and should, where possible, include participant engagement beyond a traditional lecture format. Examples include hands-on activities, group discussions, case studies, practical demonstrations, or guided use of software, tools, or datasets. The primary audience typically consists of doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and other delegates seeking training in areas that are not readily accessible through formal coursework or local expertise.

 

Proposals may include, but are not limited to:

  • Introduction to an emerging technique or tool (e.g., machine learning applications in biomechanics)
  • Advanced training in an established technique or tool (e.g., electromyography)
  • Data processing and analysis methods
  • Statistical approaches and recent developments relevant to biomechanical data
  • Research and professional skills applicable to biomechanics (e.g., grant writing, research reproducibility, scientific communication)
  • Contemporary topics affecting biomechanics research (e.g., the use of generative AI in research)

 

Proposals should not include:

  • Promotion of a product, tool, or technique associated with a single commercial manufacturer or distributor
  • Sessions consisting solely of lectures with limited participant interaction
  • Content that primarily focuses on presenting an individual research programme rather than providing broadly applicable training
  • Sessions with a highly specific topical focus as with the congress ‘Special Sessions’ (see separate call)

Tutorials will take place immediately before the Sydney congress, i.e. 18th of July 2027.

 

Important Notes

  • Submission of proposals for pre-conference tutorials does not preclude the applicant(s) from also submitting a special session proposal or abstracts to the main scientific program.
  • Acceptance is subject to review by relevant representatives from the ISB Executive Council, and finally decided via interaction with the ISB 2027 Scientific Committee, based on relevance and alignment with the Society’s mission.
  • The Educational Officer will work with the applicant(s) to help refine format and maximize a sustainable impact stemming from the tutorial.

 

For further questions or advice, please contact the ISB Education Officer: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Back to Table of Contents





Erin Lee Receives the ISB–lululemon Female Research Excellence Award at WCB 2026

 

The International Society of Biomechanics (ISB) was pleased to present the ISB–lululemon Female Research Excellence Award during the 2026 World Congress of Biomechanics (WCB) in Vancouver, Canada. Dr. Erin Lee was selected as this year's recipient following a highly competitive international selection process.

isb-lululemon

Supported by lululemon, the award recognizes a woman researcher who demonstrates excellence in both the quality of her research and her ability to communicate its scientific significance. The 2026 competition attracted more than 70 applications from researchers representing different countries, institutions, and career stages.

Following the initial evaluation, six finalists were invited to present their research at WCB 2026:

  • Emily McParland — Extracellular matrix shape change contributes to skeletal muscle passive force production
  • Ines Vandekerckhove — Revisiting how we model psoas geometry in musculoskeletal models: Implications for simulating walking in Duchenne muscular dystrophy
  • Eva Herbst — Automated subject-specific modeling of 6 DoF glenohumeral kinematics
  • Erin Lee — Knee adduction moment is associated with acute cartilage deformation following walking in adults with clinical knee osteoarthritis
  • Kristen Leigh Jakubowski — User-independent, deep-learning estimates of center of mass kinematics to enable autonomous exoskeleton control for balance augmentation
  • Celeste Coltman — Does mass location and distribution on the torso affect running economy, running biomechanics and exercise-induced breast pain among women?

The breadth of the finalist presentations reflected the diversity of contemporary biomechanics research, spanning skeletal muscle mechanics, musculoskeletal modeling, joint kinematics, osteoarthritis, wearable robotics, and female-specific biomechanics.

Dr. Lee received the award for her presentation examining the relationship between the knee adduction moment and acute cartilage deformation following walking in adults with clinical knee osteoarthritis. Her work provides insight into the relationship between biomechanical joint loading and the acute response of articular cartilage in a clinically relevant population.

ISB congratulates Dr. Lee on this recognition and also congratulates all six finalists for the quality of their research and presentations at the World Congress of Biomechanics.

The Society gratefully acknowledges lululemon for its support of this award and its contribution to increasing the visibility and recognition of women conducting biomechanics research. ISB also thanks the Awards Officers, Heiliane de Brito Fontana and Taylor Dick, for coordinating the 2026 award process.

Congratulations to Erin and to all of this year's finalists.

Back to Table of Contents

emmp-header





Dear Biomechanics Community,

We are excited to invite you to participate in the third cohort of the Empowerment in Motion Mentoring Program (EMMP), a collaborative initiative between the Black Biomechanists Association (BBA), Latinx in Biomechanix (LiB), and International Women in Biomechanics (IWB).

The mission of the EMMP is to elevate and empower underrepresented scholars by providing pathways to opportunities in Biomechanics.

 

Program Overview

Our program pairs BBA, IWB, and LiB members (mentees) with senior biomechanists (mentors) from diverse backgrounds. Through regular interactions and a structured program, we seek to encourage meaningful exchanges between mentors and mentees within the biomechanics community to foster:

  • Networking
  • Career advice and navigation
  • Research collaboration
  • Increased awareness of resources
  • Professional development opportunities

 

Program Expectations

  • Must be a member of BBA (free), LiB (free), or IWB ($5 Trainee/Supporter/Ally; $10 Professional)
  • Must commit to participating in the mentoring program for the full academic year
  • Must maintain monthly contact with their match via phone, email, video call, etc.
  • Must attend at least one professional development workshop related to mentorship (for mentors) or academics/career (for mentees), through our events or approved external events

At the conclusion of the program year, mentors and mentees will be asked to provide feedback on their EMMP experience.

 

Highlights from Last Year's Cohort

In its second year (Fall 2025 - Summer 2026), the EMMP connected 104 mentors and mentees, held over 270 mentoring meetings, and achieved an average match experience rating of 4.28/5. The program hosted a special session at the World Congress of Biomechanics and celebrated outstanding contributions through its Mentor, Mentee, and Match of the Year Awards, highlighting the impact of strong, committed mentoring relationships.

 

Program Launch and Orientation

We are launching the new cohort in Fall 2026 and expect it to culminate during conference season in Summer 2027.

 

Join us!

If you are interested in serving as a mentor or mentee (or both!), please complete this form by 5:00 PM ET on Monday, September 28th.

We look forward to welcoming you to another year of this exciting initiative! If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Below is an EMMP flyer that you can share with colleagues, mentees, or mentors who might benefit from the program. If they are not yet active members of BBA, LiB, or IWB, this is the perfect opportunity to invite them to get involved. Active membership in at least one of the three organizations is required for participation, but we want to emphasize that allies are an essential part of our community. Even if someone doesn’t personally identify with the groups represented by these organizations, their presence, advocacy, and support play a crucial role in advancing our shared mission of inclusion and representation.

 

Best regards,

The EMMP Team
Empowerment in Motion Mentoring Program
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.



emmp

Back to Table of Contents

bms-2026





XV International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming   Porto Alegre, Brazil

 

The 15th International Symposium on Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming (XVBMS), the most traditional international scientific symposium in aquatic sports, was held in Brazil. From September 7 to 11, the Aquatic Sports Research Group from the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) hosted lectures, oral presentations, poster sessions, workshops, and an assessment technology exhibition in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The XVBMS featured 10 international and 9 national speakers covering topics such as biomechanics, pedagogy, training, evaluation, and aquatic exercises. The symposium had taken place every four years since 1970, and this was its first edition in Latin America. The event featured 19 lectures, 56 oral presentations, and 86 posters.

Prof. Raúl Arellano of the University of Granada (Spain) delivered the opening lecture, honored by the XVBMS, on "The Science of Swimming in the New AI-Driven World." Prof. João Paulo Vilas-Boas of the University of Porto (Portugal), president of the International Committee of Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming, gave the closing lecture. His lecture, titled "A Quantitative Look at Swimming Biomechanics Revisited," paid tribute to Prof. Antônio Carlos Guimarães, a former biomechanics professor at UFRGS and one of the pillars of the biomechanics community in Brazil.

The XVBMS was supported by FAPERGS/BR, CAPES/BR, the Brazilian Society of Biomechanics, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Universidade de São Paulo, and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee.

 

On behalf of the organizing team,

Prof. Flávio Castro
UFRGS, Brazil

Back to Table of Contents

Greetings everyone,

It was great to see some of you at the World Congress of Biomechanics this year. For those who were in Vancouver, I hope you had time to come see Karen Mickle and Elisa Romero, who were manning the ISB 2027 Sydney booth and handing out stuffed Koalas and Tim Tam biscuits.

Before the WCB, we held our annual ISB council meeting, and one of the decisions was to change some requirements for the ISB conference abstract. We have now added the following guideline to the abstract template method section:

“Report the sex/gender distribution of human, animal, or computational study populations. Studies with an imbalanced sex/gender distribution (<30% in either category) should include a scientific rationale unless the study focuses on sex- or gender-specific factors. For studies with ongoing recruitment, report current and intended sex/gender distribution where feasible.”

This statement is intended to help reduce sex bias among participants in studies submitted to the ISB conference abstract submissions. We found in a recent study evaluating abstracts accepted to the ISB 2025 congress that 43% of abstracts reporting participant data did not specify the sex distribution of their participant cohort, and 18% had an unbalanced sex distribution. If you want to know more about the study, you can find it using this DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2026.113447

As you are working on your abstract to be submitted to ISB 2027 in Sydney, please remember to report your participants' sex distribution!

 

Julie Choisne
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) Officer

Back to Table of Contents

Introducing the ISB Student Committee

Dear students,

I hope you had a wonderful summer and, for those who attended conferences over the past few months, a great conference season!

As we start a new academic semester, I am very happy to introduce an important new development for the ISB student community: the recently formed ISB Student Committee.

The Committee was created to support a more collaborative and sustainable structure for student engagement within the Society. Most importantly, it gives us another way to better understand what students need and to develop initiatives that help students connect, find useful opportunities, and become more involved in ISB.

The Committee will focus on three main areas:

  • Events & Engagement: supporting student events, networking opportunities, webinars, and other activities that bring students together.
  • Outreach & Community: helping students stay informed about opportunities and resources, strengthening communication, and building connections within and beyond the ISB student community.
  • IDEA: helping ensure that student activities are inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible to students across our community.

In this edition, I'm happy to introduce the members of our new Student Committee and share a little more about them.

 

Meet the Student Committee

erin-kreis

Erin Kreis
Events & Engagement

Erin is a third-year PhD student in the Musculoskeletal Control and Dynamics Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology in the United States. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding the biomechanics of realistic balance challenges experienced by older adults. Beyond her research, Erin is the founder of SilverStrides, a nonprofit that creates social walking groups for older adults. She is passionate about community-building and science education.
philippe-baehler

Philippe Bähler
Outreach & Community

Philippe is currently pursuing a PhD in movement biomechanics at the University of Bern and the Bern University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland. His research focuses on evaluating novel exercise-based interventions for adolescents with idiopathic scoliosis. The evaluation is based on patient-specific musculoskeletal models using OpenSim, driven with MoCap data.
inae-de-oliveira

Inaê de Oliveira
IDEA

Inaê de Oliveira is a PhD candidate in the Multicenter Graduate Program in Physiological Sciences at the Federal University of Pampa, Brazil. She is also a researcher in the Applied Neuromechanics Research Group. Her research interests include human movement biomechanics, neuromechanics, sports performance, and injury prevention.

 

What comes next?

This is just the beginning! Over the coming months, the Committee will start working together on new activities and opportunities for ISB students. And, of course, we want to hear from you. The work of the Committee should reflect the interests and needs of our student community, so your ideas and feedback are always welcome.

Have an idea for the student community, feedback you would like to share, or an initiative you would like to get involved in? Get in touch at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.! We would love to hear from you.

We look forward to building the next chapter of the ISB student community together.

 

All the best,

Elisa Romero Avila
ISB Student Representative 2025-2027

Back to Table of Contents

Newsletters Archive