After a four-year hiatus, the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) hosted its sixth anti-doping conference on April 18th and 19th at Major League Baseball Headquarters in New York City. This event, titled Impact of Global Anti-Doping Scientific Research: Innovation and Advancement, highlighted the past successes of the PCC as well as shed light on areas of future growth and evolution within anti-doping research. Approximately 200 guests attended, in-person and virtually, over 1.5 days of programming. Over the course of the conference, guests heard from nearly 40 different speakers including anti-doping scientists, National Anti-Doping Organizations, sport administrators, league representatives, sports lawyers, and other anti-doping professionals.
Keynote speakers and U.S. Olympic Ice Dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates kicked the meeting off on day one. They shared their powerful testimony about the ways in which the doping violations of competitors tarnished one of the most important milestones in their careers. Their presentation was followed by the panel titled Investing in Anti-Doping Research: Reflecting on 15 years of PCC Excellence and Beyond featuring David Howman (Athletics Integrity Unit), Kevin Manara (Emeritus PCC Board of Governors Member), Kacie Wallace (U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee), and Travis Tygart (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency/Emeritus PCC Board of Governors Member). In honor of the PCC celebrating its 15th year as an organization, they shared some of the PCC’s work and elaborated on the continued need for anti-doping research going forward.
Attendees also had a chance to hear from former and current PCC Fellows. Dr. Sara Solheim (Norwegian Doping Control Laboratory), Dr. Jenna Goodrum (Sports Medicine Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL)), Dr. Federico Ponzetto (University of Turin), and Dr. Laura Lewis (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) shared some of their PCC-funded work and provided insights on why they were interested in the fellowship program and how it will act as a steppingstone in their careers in anti-doping. The Anti-Doping Innovation: What’s new on the horizon and why is continued innovation important? panel featuring Dr. Erwin Berthier (Tasso, Inc.), Mr. David Weiss (National Basketball Association), Mr. Gabe Baida (InnoVero), Mr. Andy Levinson (PGA TOUR), and Dr. Edward Goucher (Thermo Fisher Scientific) discussed their own innovative work in the anti-doping space as well as how those innovations are being used day to day by scientists and sports leagues. Check out our PCC 2023 photo gallery to get a glimpse of some of the memorable moments from the conference.
The PCC is grateful to the partners, sponsors, and presenters who made this event successful. Our work wouldn’t be possible without their continued support. Stay tuned for information coming soon about our next conference in 2025!
