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The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Graduate School has presented its 2020 Outstanding Thesis Award to Jose Seiba Moris for his thesis, “Insights into the Male Athlete Triad (MAT) in Collegiate Athletics.”  Seiba Moris graduated in May 2020 with a master’s in kinesiology-exercise physiology.  

The Outstanding Thesis Award recognizes a master’s student’s thesis as the most outstanding among all theses completed in the previous academic year. The recipient will be honored at the virtual Graduate School Awards Reception this fall and also receive a $500 prize.

Seiba Moris’ thesis advisor was Brianne Guilford, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Applied Health in the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior. “Jose is undoubtedly the top graduate student I have mentored in my six years as a faculty member,” she said. “Jose’s academic performance and execution of his research project is representative of a doctoral student.”

Guilford said that research on the MAT is lacking. “Jose’s thesis was the first to examine all three conditions of the MAT in a single study,” she said. “Furthermore, this was the first MAT study to include collegiate athletes from seven different sports. This information could be pivotal in helping male athletes avoid the detrimental and potentially permanent effects of the MAT.”

Seiba Moris’ research results have been presented at two national conferences and were recently submitted for publication to a top tier journal in the field. “Jose’s thesis project included a large number of outcome measures and was extensive enough that it could have been divided among three master’s students,” Guilford said. “Impressively, Jose skillfully navigated all aspects of data collection and analysis for this study, and chose to include all physiological outcome measures in his thesis. Due to the large number of participants in this study, each of the five ELISAs (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) required a 12-hour work day. Jose energetically and happily put in the time.”

As Seiba Moris was preparing the manuscript for publication, he identified a novel relationship between a few of the outcome measures. “This was an exciting finding that made the data more novel and likely to be accepted for publication,” Guilford said. “His diligent work, even after he graduated, has resulted in a manuscript that all authors are quite proud of. His work will provide a significant contribution to the field.”

Along with Guilford, other Department of Applied Health faculty members serving on Seiba Moris’ thesis committee included: Bryan Smith, PhD, associate professor; Benjamin Webb, PhD, associate professor; and Maria Fernandez del Valle, PhD, assistant professor.