University of the Ozarks students Abby Lewis, Alisone Guzman and Solena Martinez each had the rare opportunity as undergraduates to present their research at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 2023 Annual Meeting and World Congress in Denver, Colo., May 30 – June 2.
Lewis, from Greenbrier, Ark., graduated in May with a major in health science. Guzman, a senior from El Salvador who plans to graduate in December, is majoring in health science and business administration. Martinez, a rising senior from Nicaragua, is also majoring in health science and business administration.
The students were accompanied by Dr. Piroska Boros, assistant professor of health science. The students presented secondary data analysis from Boros’ doctoral dissertation data. From the data they received, each student developed their own research question. Boros assisted the students on how to analyze the data specifically to answer the research questions, and each student wrote their abstract and prepared their posters.
“We had to stand by our posters for an hour and 30 minutes and talk about our project with other attendees who were interested in our posters,” said Boros, who also presented a poster at the conference. “The students did an excellent job preparing for the conference and they did well presenting their projects and answering questions. I am very proud of all of them not just because how well they presented, but also how they conducted themselves at the conference representing Ozarks. We visited many lectures and poster presentations each day. I suggested some lectures to the students to attend, including lectures about preventing stress fractures in long distance runners, and translating research into nutrition strategies for athletes. Students also had the liberty to select the presentations that they were interested in.”
Lewis’ presentations, titled “Grip Rare of Force Relaxation Is Associated with Muscle Endurance in Older Adults,” focused on age-related changes in muscle relaxation properties, and specifically how that affects muscular endurance. Guzman’s presentation, “Grip Measures Better Predict Lower Body Function At Older Age,” examined the ability of grip measures to explain whole body muscle function. Martinez’s presentation, “Grip Peak Rate of Force Development Predict Dynamic Balance in the Aging Population,” was focused on predicting balance during a sit-to-stand position transfer from an explosive strength measure at the grip.
Martinez called the experience “a memorable opportunity to grow and learn from experts within the scope of the exercise sciences, sports medicine, and physical activity.”
“Meeting and connecting with professors, clinicians, and fellow students gave me a new perspective on what path I want to follow, a career in academia,” Martinez said. “Further, presenting for the first time at a conference allowed me to share my knowledge and develop new skills such as speaking to a diverse audience and explaining scientific data in simplified terms. My favorite part of the experience was learning from people passionate about sciences and research, making new connections and friends, and creating lifetime memories.”
Boros’ presentation was titled, “Construct Validity of Grip Rate of Force Development to Assess Muscle Weakness in Older Adults,” and focused on establishing the validity of a simple grip explosive task for clinical use in geriatrics to capture declining muscle function.
“Currently there isn’t a clinical consensus on how to screen for declining muscle function with age,” Boros said. “The long-term goal of this research was to provide a screening tool for muscle weakness that is cost-effective, easy to use, and feasible for population-wide assessments and implementation in clinical practice.”
Boros said she enjoyed seeing how energized and engaged the students were at the conference.
“They were able to connect with fellow students and faculty from different institutions as well as professionals from the exercise science industry,” Boros said. “This sort of networking opens opportunities for students to discuss ideas and connect with the right people for career building in exercise science. Conference presentations are valuable venues for students to showcase themselves to graduate school recruiters and starting their track-record of scientific communications that transfer into graduate programs and outside of academia too.”
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