image: The University of Virginia’s Robert Thomson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Silvia Blemker, will serve as president of the American Society of Biomechanics for one year beginning August 2026.
Credit: Photo by Matt Cosner, UVA Engineering
Members of the American Society of Biomechanics have elected Silvia Salinas Blemker, the University of Virginia’s Robert Thomson Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering, to serve a three-year leadership term. She will be president-elect for the next year, become president in August 2026, and complete her service as past-president from August 2027 to August 2028.
Blemker is a successful entrepreneur and researcher known for translating scientific discoveries into treatments for muscle-related disease, injury and performance.
“This is a special honor for me,” said Blemker, an ASB fellow since 2021. “I’ve been drawn to the society since my first ASB meeting as a graduate student for the incredible science, collaborative community and shared passion for biomechanics.”
The society defines biomechanics as the broad interplay between mechanics and biological systems, and includes disciplines and fields of application including biological sciences, exercise and sports science, health sciences, ergonomics and human factors, and engineering and applied science.
It promotes the exchange of ideas among biomechanists from these various disciplines to advance biomechanics as both a basic and applied science, according to its website.
Blemker’s research and career path sit at the intersection of the two. She uses experimental and computational modeling to study muscle biology and mechanics, leading to insights that inform treatments for disease, functional loss or athletic performance improvement.
She co-founded Springbok Analytics, a company built on technology she developed that converts magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, into 3D analysis of musculature. Powered by artificial intelligence, the system identifies imbalances, asymmetries and weak spots that contribute to symptoms or increase injury risk.
Cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, the technology allows clinicians to precisely target and track therapy for a wide range of people, from elite athletes to people with disorders like facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, a common form of muscular dystrophy.
A Record of Achievement
UVA recognized Springbok’s founders with its Innovator of the Year award in February. Blemker’s newest honor came in June, when she was inducted as a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.
Long active in the ASB — including as program chair of the 2018 annual meeting — she has received the society’s Goel Award for Translational Research in Biomechanics, Pre-Doctoral Award and Founders’ Award, along with multiple awards from its affiliated publication, the Journal of Biomechanics.
Blemker also won a Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award and, in 2019, was elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
She holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Northwestern and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford.
A People-Centered Leadership Vision
In her candidate statement for ASB president, Blemker highlighted her love for teaching biomechanics, exchanging ideas about education with society colleagues and encouraging students to join the society.
“I am deeply grateful to ASB for helping strengthen both my own career and those of my trainees,” she said.
She ran on three priorities: 1) Bolstering ASB’s industry ties to foster innovation and create career opportunities, 2) expanding support for students and early-career researchers to strengthen its role as a launchpad for future leaders and 3) diversifying funding sources for research.
“I am also committed to promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, biology, health sciences and movement science,” Blemker said. “ASB’s strength lies in its people, and I am excited to help the society continue to grow and lead the field forward.”