UW doctoral student Yu Song, center, receives a Student Research Grant from Randall
Jensen, president of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS) Executive
Council, and Ina Janssen, ISBS Executive Council vice president of research and projects.
Song, a biomedical sciences Ph.D. candidate from China, will use the grant to study
the mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament injuries in sports. (Yu Song Photo)
A University of Wyoming doctoral student recently received a Student Research Grant
at the 40th Conference of the International Society of Biomechanics in Sports (ISBS)
in Liverpool, England.
Yu Song, a biomedical sciences Ph.D. candidate from China, will use the grant to study
the mechanisms of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries, one of the most common
severe knee injuries in sports. Contact sports have shown more than three times higher
injury risk than limited-contact sports and noncontact sports. Approximately 8 percent
to 60 percent of ACL injuries have been associated with external contact with the
trunk and arms near the time of injuries.
Song’s dissertation project aims to understand the effect of mid-flight external trunk
perturbation on jump-landing and cutting biomechanics associated with ACL injury risks.
“The findings may help us understand the abnormal trunk motion and perturbation observed
during ACL injuries and inform the improvement of future ACL injury screening tasks
and ACL injury prevention strategies,” says Boyi Dai, an associate professor in the
UW Division of Kinesiology and Health and Song’s mentor on the grant.
Song was one of two students who received a research grant at the annual ISBS conference.
ISBS is composed of members from all over the world with a common desire to study
and understand human movement, especially as it relates to applied sports biomechanics.
“I am honored to be awarded a Student Research Grant,” Song says. “I appreciate this
opportunity to broaden my career horizons. This grant will help turn my dream of becoming
a biomechanist into reality.”
The Student Research Grant is open to final-year undergraduate students and graduate
students. It is available to fund biomechanics research projects in an environment
that provides strong mentorship from an established researcher. The grant is designed
to assist students in the early stages of their professional development to encourage
the pursuit of biomechanics research.
In addition to receiving the research grant, Song also received a Student Travel Grant
from ISBS and travel grants from UW’s Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program and the Division
of Kinesiology and Health to support her travel to the conference.
