The EIM Global Leadership Award was first introduced in 2017 to recognize outstanding contributions to the growth and development of EIM, both in the United States and internationally.
Each year at the ACSM Annual Meeting, one award is presented to an exceptional person, or group of people working together, advancing EIM internationally with a second award presented to an exceptional person, or group of people, advancing the EIM initiative in the United States.
| US Awardee | Jim Skinner, PhD, FACSM Former ACSM President Emeritus | Dr. Skinner was honored for his efforts supporting EIM. For over a decade, he chaired EIM Program Planning for the ACSM Annual Meeting. His personal and professional network was critical in attracting world-class presenters to the EIM World Congress and to the EIM Keynote Lecture. Similarly, his efforts globally to support and promote EIM have been key to growing both EIM and ACSM internationally. |
| International Awardees | Drs. Richard Marine and Milagros Almonte Co-Directors, EIM Dominican Republic National Center | Drs. Marine and Almonte were recognized for their long-standing contribution to the EIM Global Network and leadership of the EIM Dominican Republic National Center since 2015. Over the past decade, they have led workshops across the Caribbean and Central America, training healthcare providers on how to promote PA with their patients. Other significant achievements include partnering with leading academic institutions to advance PA training in the Dominican Republic and providing key insight on PA promotion in healthcare settings during the development of their national PA guidelines. |
| US Awardee | Laurie Whitsel, PhD National VP of Policy Research, American Heart Association | Dr. Whitsel was honored for her transformative work standardizing measures to establish physical activity (PA) assessment, prescription, and referral as a standard of practice across U.S. healthcare systems. This includes PA being included as a core measure in the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability Version 4 (USCDI v4) and work with HL7 to publish the first ever PA Implementation Guide to standardize the ability of computer systems or software to exchange information involved in measuring, reporting, and intervening to improve patient physical activity levels. |
| International Awardee | Ben Tan, MBBS (Singapore), MSpMed (Australia) Chief of Sport & Exercise Medicine, Changi General Hospital; EIM Singapore National Center Director | Dr. Tan was recognized for his efforts serving as the EIM Asia Regional Director and leading EIM Singapore since inception in 2015. His efforts include developing two editions of an EIM textbook used in the training of healthcare providers and exercise professionals, introducing EIM in medical residency programs at all medical schools in Singapore, and integrating the PAVS in Changi Hospital and several other major Singaporean health systems. |
| US Awardee | Katie Schmitz, PhD, MPH Professor & Associate Director of Population Sciences, Penn State Cancer Institute | Dr. Schmitz was honored for her leadership developing an EIM-specific model for cancer survivors (‘Moving Through Cancer’), a nationwide exercise professional and program registry, along with virtual and hard copies of a handbook that has been distributed to thousands of oncology clinics and practitioners across North America. |
| International Awardees | EIM Italy | Andrea Ermolao, Daniel Neuenheuserer, Sara Ortolan Sport and Exercise Medicine Division | The EIM Italy team was recognized for their efforts hosting an extraordinary EIM regional meeting (Oct 2022), developing a free, online EIM MOOC for healthcare providers around the world, and serving as a leading EIM National Center in Europe. |
| US Awardee | Cedric Bryant, PhD Chief Scientific Officer, American Council on Exercise (ACE) | Dr. Bryant was honored for his efforts serving on the EIM Credential committee and providing invaluable assistance in the launch of EIM Credential, creating and leading the Prescription for Activity Task Force to accelerate efforts to integrate physical activity into health care and other sectors, as well as several national efforts to promote physical activity through partnerships with the Physical Activity Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). |
| International Awardee | Jonathan Fowles, PhD Professor and Director, Centre of Lifestyle Studies, School of Kinesiology, Acadia University | Dr. Fowles was recognized for his leadership of EIM Canada, including the development of EIM On Campus at 27 academic institutions, receiving ongoing funding to support the delivery of numerous healthcare provider training courses across the country, publishing multiple scientific papers on EIM research in Canada, and obtaining official recognition and adoption of EIM by the provincial government of Nova Scotia. |
| US Awardee | Elizabeth Joy, MD, MPH Senior Medical Director, Wellness and Nutrition, Office of Health Promotion and Wellness, Intermountain Health | Dr. Joy was recognized for her lifetime achievements with EIM, including serving on the initial EIM Advisory Board and as the chair of the EIM Clinical Practice committee, leading efforts to adopt the Exercise Vital Sign (EVS) at Intermountain Health, spearheading the publication of multiple reliability and validity papers on the EVS, and serving as the chair of the healthcare sector of the National Physical Activity Plan. |
| International Awardee | Sandra Mahecha, MD, PhD Director of Physical Activity Promotion, Clinica Meds, EIM Chile National Center Director; EIM Latin America Regional Director | Dr. Mahecha was recognized for taking on the role of EIM Latin America Regional Director, establishing an EIM Chile National Center, translating the EIM Physical Activity Training for Healthcare Providers into Spanish, and offering the course virtually to healthcare providers across Chile and Latin America. |
| US Awardees | Carena Winters, PhD, MPH Associate Professor, Department of Exercise Science, Slippery Rock University
Jennifer Trilk, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville; Director, Lifestyle Medicine & Exercise is Medicine Greenville | Dr. Winters was recognized for her dedication and commitment to EIM On Campus, growing the program to include >250 university campuses around the world, enhancing the EIM Recognition program to honor campuses at a bronze, silver, or gold level, and starting the EIM Mascot Challenge. Dr. Trilk was recognized for her efforts developing one of the most comprehensive clinic-community physical activity referral pathways in the world within the Prisma Health system (Greenville, SC), as well as for her leadership efforts serving on the EIM Education committee, being the EIM liaison with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and developing a world-class lifestyle medicine program in the USC School of Medicine Greenville.
|
| International Awardees | Anna Plucik-Mrożek, MD and Małgorzata Gosia Perl, MSc Co-Director, EIM Poland National Center | Dr. Plucik-Mrożek and Ms. Perl were recognized for their efforts developing the EIM Poland National Center, hosting an extraordinary EIM Regional Conference, establishing multiple programs in partnership with the Polish Ministry of Health, and establishing one of the most comprehensive social media strategies in the EIM Global Network. |
| US Awardees | Robert Sallis, MD Director, Sports Medicine Fellowship, Kaiser Permanente Southern California; ACSM Past President and founding EIM Chairperson Jennifer West, MS Program Manager, Cabarrus Health Alliance – the public health authority of Cabarrus County, North Carolina | Dr. Sallis was recognized for his lifetime achievements with EIM, including serving as the founding chairperson, providing global leadership for more than a decade, and his pioneer work developing and implementing the Physical Activity Vital Sign in the Kaiser Permanente Health System in Southern California. Ms. West was recognized for her community-based efforts adapting and implementing the EIM model in multiple community health clinics in Cabarrus County, North Carolina as part of a CDC REACH grant and supporting efforts to implement EIM in several other health departments in North Carolina. |
| International Awardee | Chi-Hung Lin, PhD, MD Minister of Health, New Taipei Department of Health | Dr. Lin was recognized for his efforts as the Minister of Health in adopting EIM in New Taipei Health Systems as a foundational component of the “Fit for Age”, training >500 healthcare providers and allied professionals, and engaging >30,000 older adults across 1500+ community sites through their efforts. |
| US Awardees | Brad Roy, PhD; Robert Confessor, PhD; Marilyn Moffat, PhD, DPT; Irene Davis, PhD, PT; Phil Page, PhD, PT, ATC Members of the ACSM/APTA Working Group | This group award was presented to members of the APTA-ACSM working group in recognition of their efforts exploring how physical therapists could be integrated into EIM, earn the EIM Credential, and better promote physical activity with patients referred by healthcare providers. This group also led a featured symposium highlighting EIM at the 2017 APTA Combined Sections Meeting before an audience of >1200 physical therapists. |
| International Awardee | John Duperly, MD, PhD Faculty of Medicine, Los Andes University (UNIANDES); EIM Latin America Regional Director | Dr. Duperly was recognized for his lifetime contributions to EIM, including bringing the initiative to Colombia, serving as the EIM Latin American Regional, establishing EIM National Centers throughout Central and South America, and implementing a train-the-trainer approach for hosting physical activity training workshops for >4000 physicians throughout Latin America. |
As Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) continues to grow and gain momentum around the world, the EIM Emerging Leaders program seeks to develop the next generation of professionals who will advance the initiative regionally, nationally and internationally.
Those selected to serve as EIM Emerging Leaders by the EIM Governance Board and EIM Advisory Panel will participate in series of webinars on the Exercise is Medicine® initiative, gather at the ACSM Annual Meeting/EIM World Congress and learn about EIM strategic initiatives related to education, research, clinical integration, resource development, EIM On Campus and the EIM Global Network. EIM Emerging Leaders serve as spokespeople, provide presentations, disseminate information, and assist in EIM projects and activities to expand the reach of the initiative nationally and globally. They will have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced clinicians and/or faculty leaders.
While individuals at all career stages are eligible to apply, the EIM Emerging Leaders Program is focused on the recruitment, training, and development of early career professionals who have the dedication and time to help grow the EIM initiative. Applicants should have training and expertise in a field directly related to EIM including, but not limited to, exercise science, public health or medical fields such as family medicine, internal medicine, sports medicine, cardiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, physical therapy or dietetics/nutrition. The commitment to the Emerging Leaders program is 2 years.
Support for the Exercise is Medicine® Initiative is provided by:
This session explores the physiology of hydration through an integrated lens—examining how carbohydrate, sodium, flavor, and fluid interact to influence intake, absorption, retention, and performance. We’ll review current research on fluid balance, osmotic drivers, and palatability, highlighting mechanisms that underpin voluntary intake and thermoregulation. Attendees will gain insight into individualized strategies, including sweat profiling and timing approaches, to optimize euhydration and mitigate performance decrements associated with >2% body-mass loss. Practical applications will be linked to laboratory- and field-based research, ensuring translation from bench to field. This pre-conference equips you with evidence-based tools to support athlete hydration across diverse environments and sporting contexts.
