FARM 2025 | Summary and Recordings

Female Athlete Research Meeting 2025 Highlights

On November 5, 2025, Stanford’s inaugural Female Athlete Research Meeting brought together over 400 people with a shared vision: advancing science to help female athletes reach their full potential.

The day created something rare: a space where Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi could discuss molecular chemistry with college basketball players, and where sports medicine researchers could compare notes with professional runners pursuing medical degrees.

Five expert panels (watch below) dug into the questions athletes are asking: How do we prevent ACL injuries? What role does the menstrual cycle play in performance? How does nutrition impact training?

Conversations also extended beyond the lab: Tara VanDerveer, second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history with 38 seasons at Stanford, explored how research and sports communities can support female athletes throughout their careers. Mary Cain brought her perspective as both elite athlete and advocate for athlete mental health, calling for better coach training and athlete support systems.

During the panel Q&As, athletes in the audience jumped in with their own questions, eager to translate the research into training strategies and team performance. The conversations continued between sessions, over lunch, in the hallways. New connections formed. And we can’t wait to see where these discussions lead.

“The meeting had incredible energy, from beginning to end. I have never been in a room with such powerful female voices, and I am eager to see the change that is possible with this collection of brilliant minds, shared vision, and focus.”

– Alexandra Knauer

When Carolyn Bertozzi (left) was in college in the 1980s, women in leadership roles in science were rare. Fast forward, and she’s now a Nobel laureate, presenting at a packed meeting dedicated to female athlete research. It’s a moment that captures how far we’ve come and the road still ahead.

“Every time you invest in women and girls,” said Bertozzi, “that comes back to all of society because women, when they’re in leadership positions and empowered with knowledge and agency, they tend to give back to all the children in their lives.”

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2025 Female Athlete Research Meeting Sessions

The panels covered everything from biomechanics to psychology: Krithika Swaminathan presented research on smartphone video-based assessments to help screen female adolescent athletes at risk for ACL injuries, while Erica Sonnenburg shared how fermented foods impact the microbiome and inflammation. Kristy Popp addressed menstrual cycle physiology, and Alia Crum led a discussion on how the mind enables athletes to reach peak performance.

“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend this meeting. It was genuinely life-changing – one of the most meaningful and impactful days of my 17 years as a teacher and coach.”

– Sara Hudgens

Poster Session

This year’s poster session brought great energy, with thirty presenters sharing new work across women’s performance and health. Highlights ranged from analyses of the social media trend of “cycle syncing,” to machine-learning methods to screen ACL injury risk, to whether muscle fatigability and recovery vary with the menstrual cycle.

Fireside Chat: The Future of Women’s Performance

The night ended with a fireside chat, bringing together four pioneering leaders:

Clara Wu Tsai, businesswoman, investor, and philanthropist, owns the WNBA’s 2024 Champions, the New York Liberty, and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. As Founder of the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, she pursues philanthropic investments across the arts, science, and social justice, including the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance.

Tara VanDerveer, the second-winningest coach in NCAA basketball history and one of the top coaches in the sport, both collegiately and internationally.

Mary Leonard, Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford and Director of Stanford’s Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, is at the forefront of integrating precision health into research and training programs.

Carolyn Bertozzi, Nobel Laureate, Baker Family Director of Sarafan ChEM-H, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor at Stanford, and Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Together, they discussed actionable roadmaps to inspire new studies, elevate the next generation of scientists in the field, and accelerate translation from research to real-world practice.

“Just by asking what’s possible when we center women, we open the door to innovation, and that leads to better outcomes for female athletes and all women,” said Clara Wu Tsai. “We’re really at the beginning of a new field of research, and the rise of women’s sports means it’s time for women’s research to rise as well.”

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the engaging discussions. And special thanks to the Joe and Clara Tsai Foundation, whose support made this all possible. Together, we’re advancing the science that will redefine female athlete performance.

Quick Links to the Female Athlete Research Meeting

Symposium Agenda

Sessions & Speakers

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