A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial overseen by Garey Chair and Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt was published in the International Journal of Exercise Science. Alumni Zachary Moon ’24, Rachel Chiella ’24, Erica Otto ’24, Iliana Hernandez ’26, Barrett Knapp ’24, and Matthew Bierwirth ’24 were integral in completing the trial and seeing it through to publication. Special thanks are given to all the members of the SU community who participated, and the students who assisted with exercise training supervision over the 1.5 years the trial took place. Along with external funding, Southwestern’s SCOPE summer research funds, Garey funds, and research assistantships were integral to this project’s success. The full paper can be downloaded here.

Kinesiology alumni Corban Ruiz’s ’23 “fun” COVID student research project turned independent study with Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt, which morphed into a research assistantship data management role for biology major and kinesiology minor Iliana Hernandez ’27, was published in the International Journal of Exercise Science. The paper, “Age of Anaerobic, Aerobic, and Skill-Based Olympic Athletes 1988 – 2024” provides insight into the development of and, potentially, the onset of age-related declines in human metabolic systems. The good news for most of us is that there has been at least one 65-year old who has competed in the Olympics since 1988 in a non-equestrian event! The paper can be read here.

On April 23, as a member of the American Physiology Society, Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt met with staff in the Washington, D.C. offices of Senator Ted Cruz, Senator John Cornyn, Representative Lizzie Fletcher, and Representative Vincente Gonzalez, to discuss the importance of science research and education funding, highlighting the negative impact proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF) will have on Texas’, and the country’s, health and education outcomes.

Biology major and kinesiology minor Iliana Hernandez ’27 presented research findings from the recently completed clinical trial “Exercise Training Adaptations in Middle-Aged Adults With and Without Post-Exercise Peanut Consumption” at the American Physiology Summit in Baltimore, MD on April 26. Co-authors on the study are kinesiology major Erica Otto ’25, Southwestern alumni Matthew Bierwirth ’24, Rachel Chiella ’24, Barrett Knapp ’24, and Zachary Moon ’24, and Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt.

Garey Chair and Associate Professor of Kinesiology Ed Merritt was interviewed by BBC News for an article about fat-burning during exercise. His expertise was featured in several international editions published in various languages, including Pashto, Portuguese, Swahili, Thai, and Turkish.