Welcome to the Texas ACSM website!
The 2025 Texas ACSM annual conference will be held Thursday, February 20th and Friday, February 21st, at the Waco Convention Center located at 100 Washington Avenue in Waco, TX. We believe that we have assembled another exceptional group of speakers and feel that our final program is composed of diverse topics, encompassing areas of interest for all in attendance. Our vendor booths will again be open both days in Chisolm Hall. We encourage everyone to seek out and spend time visiting with our vendors during the meeting, as they each make significant contributions for our annual meetings. Parking continues to be free in Heritage Square surrounding the Waco Convention Center.
Thursday afternoon will feature both interesting and energizing topics from a variety of captivating speakers. We will “kick off” the meeting with the Student SRDA Presentations, which will continue the tradition with five-minute presentation rounds and a competition for additional monetary awards for first, second, and third place winners. Additionally, Dr. Stacy Hunter from Texas State University will present her work on the blood pressure response to yoga training. Following this first concurrent session, we will have presentations from Dr. Katerine Hansen from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center discussing her work in pediatric exercise cardiology along with our “New to Texas” presentation by Dr. Milena Samora from Texas State University, who will discuss autonomic control of blood pressure in a diabetic animal model. The next round of concurrent sessions will feature an “Invited Career Talk” by Dr. Victor Convertino from the US Army Institute of Surgical Research and he will talk about his career path that started as an exercise science student. Dr. Jennifer Etnier from the University of North Carolina Greensboro will round out the second part of this concurrent session speaking on exercise and Alzheimer’s Disease. To conclude Thursday’s talks, our GSSI sponsored talk will feature Dr. Phil Agostinelli who will discuss plant protein for muscle recovery. The concurrent session will be our inaugural “Women in Exercise Science” presentation.” Dr. Wendy Kohrt from the University of Colorado – Anschutz Medical Campus will give this presentation highlighting her career and research on musculoskeletal adaptations to exercise and how she became interested in exercise and bone health.
Thursday will conclude with the student poster session. The student poster finalist judging session will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Following the judging session, the TACSM student research poster session will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and President’s Cup judging will take place on Friday morning. The TACSM Social and Sponsor Fair starts at 6:00 p.m. and will not disappoint with appetizers and limited complimentary beer and wine in Chisholm Hall.
Friday morning starts off with our second annual Women’s Breakfast - please be sure to RSVP. More information will be provided as we get closer to the meeting. The Women’s Breakfast provides an excellent opportunity to support women in the field and to meet and interact with several prominent women in exercise physiology and sport medicine. At 8:00 a.m., students will have a second opportunity to stand by their posters while the President’s Cup judging and a Graduate Student Fair take place. Dr. Katie Schmitz from the University of Pittsburgh will be giving the opening lecture of the day, and her talk will focus on the impact of exercise on individuals with cancer. We will then have a concurrent session with the “Honor Award Lecture” by Dr. Richard Kreider from Texas A&M University discussing his research on ergogenic aids and performance. Dr. Chris Fry from the University of Kentucky will present on satellite cell contributions to muscle adaptation and rehabilitative exercise to round out this concurrent session. This year’s “Raven Lecture” will be given by Dr. Blake Rasmussen from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on molecular mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle growth and atrophy in aging and disease and the role a physical activity. Lunch will be provided, followed by the always entertaining TACSM Student Bowl XVI competition. Then, the TACSM Awards Ceremony will close the 2025 Annual Meeting.
Abstract and other meeting-related deadlines, as well as dates for registration have been posted on the Texas ACSM website (www.tacsm.org). We look forward to seeing you all in Waco this February!
Joni A. Mettler, PhD, ATC, CSCS
TACSM President
Texas State University