2025 Pauline Schmitt Russell Research Lecture

Energy deficiency in sport: impacts on health and performance in exercising women

Nancy Williams, professor of kinesiology and physiology, presented "Energy deficiency in sport: impacts on health and performance in exercising women".

Williams is the recipient of the 2023 Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Career Award, which honors a distinguished faculty member whose career-long research has had a profound impact on a specific field of study.

About the lecture

The detrimental effects of energy deficiency in athletes has become a widely recognized topic in the area of sport science, receiving worldwide attention from the International Olympic Committee, affected athletes, and sport scientists. Williams' lecture will discuss the scientific foundation of the impact of chronic energy deficiency in the contexts of consistent underconsumption of calories relative to the daily exercise energy demands and in women’s and girls’ health and sport performance. Particular attention will be paid to key scientific discoveries that have advanced knowledge in this area, as well as controversies that have sparked confusion in research and clinical domains.

About the presenter

Nancy Williams co-directs the Women’s Health and Exercise Laboratory in the Department of Kinesiology. The focus of her research is understanding the physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying the modulation of reproductive function and bone health via alterations in energy balance resulting from changes in diet, physical activity, and sport participation.

Each year, the Schmitt Russell Research Lecture is presented by the most recent recipient of the Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Achievement Award, recognizing the contributions of a distinguished faculty member whose career-long research has had a profound impact on a specific field of study.