Biomechanics on our Minds

Today’s episode is the last in a three-part series looking at wellness through the lenses of movement, sleep, and mindset. For today’s conversation, Melissa and Hannah invite Professor Alia Crum to discuss mindset. Alia is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the Principle Investigator of the Stanford Mind & Body Lab. Her research focuses on mindsets; how they affect important outcomes in such domains as exercise, diet, and stress; and how they can be consciously and deliberately changed through intervention to increase psychological well-being. Alia explains why mindsets are so important, and offers some practical tips on how to leverage our mindsets to improve our health and wellbeing. She shares many interesting research findings from her lab and others, and also offers her own personal experiences of how she practices what she researches.

Today’s episode is the second in a three-part series looking at wellness through the lenses of movement, sleep, and mindset. For today’s conversation, Melissa and Hannah invite Professor Jamie Zeitzer to discuss his work on sleep. Jamie is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, conducting research in the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine. Jamie is very “light focused” in his research, working a lot with circadian rhythms, which are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. Americans spend just about 7% of their time in natural light and our circadian rhythms are very sensitive to lights. Jamie recommends going outside just a half hour every day can help set us up for better sleep at night. Additionally, exercise, regular routines, and temperatures can be important to getting better sleep. He also recommends being more cognizant of what is helpful and relaxing to you before going to sleep.

Today’s episode is the first in a three-part series looking at wellness through the lenses of movement, sleep, and mindset. For today’s conversation, Melissa and Hannah invite Professor Abby King to discuss movement. Abby is an award-winning Professor of Epidemiology & Population Health and of Medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. Her research focuses on the development, evaluation, and translation of public health intervention to reduce chronic disease in the US and globally. Through her research, Abby has found that one of the main barriers to healthy movement practices is environment. Thus, her research centers not only on individuals, but individuals within given contexts. Abby explains what it can look like for an environment to foster movement, encourages simple queues and social support, and describes different forms of healthy movement. They end the conversation with a discussion about the intersection of human and planetary and what Abby is most excited about in her field. Connect with Abby King! - HARTS Lab website: https://med.stanford.edu/healthyaging.html - Our Voice: Citizen Science for Health Equity: https://med.stanford.edu/ourvoice.html Connect with BOOM (and enter to win a water bottle)! - Twitter, Instagram, Facebook: @biomechanicsoom - Email: biomechanicsonourminds@gmail.com - Website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com

In this episode, we cover skin biomechanics! As our largest organ, the skin is an essential part of movement and a source of protection for our bodies. Learn about why studying skin biomechanics is so critical from Professors Manuel Rausch and Adrian Buganza Tepole, from UT Austin and Purdue University, respectively. They share how their expertise in modeling and experimental techniques support each other in understanding skin mechanics and applications to diseases and conditions affecting the skin, such as pressure ulcers. We also learn about what has made their cross-university collaboration (and friendship) so successful. Follow Adrian and Manuel! Manuel’s Twitter: @ManuelKRausch1 Manuel’s research lab: http://www.manuelrausch.com/ Adrian’s Twitter: @ABuganzaT Adrian’s research lab: https://engineering.purdue.edu/tepolelab/ Follow BOOM! Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Instagram and Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds Website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com Bit of BOOM: Song, et al. 2021. Miniaturized electromechanical devices for the characterization of the biomechanics of deep tissue. Nature Biomedical Engineering. 5: 759–771. (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-021-00723-y)

This episode of Student Voices is hosted by Corey Tanaka, who is in his 4th year of undergrad and works in the Movement Science Laboratory at California State University Long Beach. He interviews his mentor, Dr. Kevin Valenzuela who is a professor and researcher at California State University Long Beach. In this interview, Dr. Kevin Valenzuela talks about his diverse experiences in biomechanics. Topics include experiences of racism, underrepresentation in biomechanics, international research in Japan, biomechanics in extreme sports (including his future research that involves him skydiving to collect data), and researching topics that you genuinely enjoy. He explains his passion for extreme sports and the importance of pursuing a career in which you are passionate about. Dr. Kevin Valenzuela can be found at: Instagram: @bromechanics (personal account) @movementsciencelab_csulb (csulb research account) Email: kevin.valenzuela@csulb.edu Corey Tanaka can be found at: Instagram: @corey_tanaka Email: corey_tanaka@student.csulb.edu

In this episode, we talked with Professor John McPhee, whose research focuses on modelling, simulation, model-based control, and optimal design of dynamic physical systems. He is able to apply his expertise in modeling and simulation widely, to everything from golf, to cars, to improving athletic performance. He also shares his 3 tips for being a good team leader: 1) Remember that “it’s all about people.” 2) Everyone in the group should learn from each other 3) Make it fun. Follow John McPhee! morg.uwaterloo.ca Follow BOOM! Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Instagram and Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds Website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com Bit of BOOM: Biomechanics of hang-time in volleyball spike jumps https://www-sciencedirect-com.stanford.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0021929021001603#f0005

In this bonus episode, we talk with Dr. Kerry Costello, Postdoctoral Fellow in the Movement & Applied Imaging Lab at Boston University. In addition to teaching us about her awesome work, Kerry shares her insights on what it's like to be a postdoctoral fellow and how international research helped shaped her career. She shares what she's learned from starting her podcast, Hey OA, which focused on osteoarthritis, and how all researchers can learn from it! Follow Kerry: @kecostello Follow Hey OA: @heyoapodcast Follow BOOM! Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Instagram and Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds Website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com

In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Scott Riewald, who is the Senior Director of High-Performance Projects on the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. He shares his experiences as a biomechanist working with Olympic and Paralympic athletes and coaches. His expertise sheds light on how a little empathy can go a long way and how biomechanists, physiologists, physical therapists, coaches, and athletes can work together to help athletes be the best they can. Follow BOOM on Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Follow BOOM on Instagram and Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds BOOM Official website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com Contact us: biomechanicsonourminds@gmail.com

In this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Sarah Shultz, Professor and Chair of Kinesiology at Seattle University. She shares her passion and enthusiasm for diversifying research teams, populations and questions. She talks about the importance of flexing - being resilient and adaptable and how science is better when we work together and across disciplines. Follow Professor Sarah Shultz! Twitter: @SarahPShultz Follow BOOM! Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Instagram and Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds Website and shop: biomechanicsonourminds.com

You've been waiting for it... the grand finale, our fourth and final episode in the mobility, accessibility, and design series! We had such an amazing conversation with Sara Hendren, artist, design researcher, writer, and professor at Olin College of Engineering. She eloquently shared her thoughts and experiences with design, art, and accessibility. We discuss many topics that come from her recent book, “What can a body do” where she challenges the notion that disability is only a physical construct, and rather a product of an inflexible, built environment. Follow Sara! Website: https://sarahendren.com/ Follow BOOM! Twitter: @biomechanicsOOM Instagram: @biomechanicsonourminds Facebook: @biomechanicsonourminds