Gauri Desai

Dr. Gauri Desai is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Female Athlete Science and Translational Research (FASTR) Program at Stanford University, where she studies the biomechanics and physiology of female endurance and trail athletes. At FASTR, she is currently leading a study examining how bone health responds to running and non-running training progression in postpartum runners following childbirth, and how training load progression affects hormone levels in female ultramarathoners. With a PhD in Biomechanics, Gauri's research has focused on how the body generates and absorbs forces during running, how movement patterns change with age, experience, and fatigue, and the factors that put runners at risk of injury. Her work, both computational and with human subjects, spans recreational to elite runners and has been recognized with awards including the American College of Sports Medicine’s Young Scientist Award and American Society of Biomechanics' Up & Comer Award. In parallel, she is the co-founder of a stealth startup that seeks to optimize biomechanics-informed training load for female runners across their lifespan. Prior to being a scientist, Gauri was an international-level athlete who competed for over a decade; the athlete-scientist lens drives her commitment to translating research into practical guidance for runners and coaches alike.