139 – Applying Targeted Proteomics Approaches in Anti-Doping Research – Christoph Borchers, PhD
Dr. Christoph Borchers is a Full Member in the McGill Centre for Translational Research in Cancer, Senior Investigator at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Director of the Segal Cancer Proteomics Centre, and Professor in the Department of Oncology at McGill University. In this episode, Christoph discusses his research in the area of proteomics and important applications of his work in anti-doping, including a PCC-funded research project examining quantitative proteomics longitudinally in blood to screen for blood doping. He also shares future directions for this line of research and his perspectives on important areas of opportunity in anti-doping science.
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114 – NFL’s Continued Support of Clean Sport and the PCC – Adolpho Birch
Adolpho Birch III is currently the Chief External & League Affairs Officer for the Tennessee Titans football team. Previously, he spent more than two decades working for the National Football League (NFL) in various roles. The NFL is one of the Founding Members of the Partnership for Clean Competition, and Adolpho is one of the PCC’s Emeritus Board of Governors Members. In this episode, Adolpho discusses his career, his experiences supporting clean sport, and anti-doping advances in football over the years. In addition, to continue the celebration of the PCC’s 15th anniversary this year, Adolpho talks more about the history and impacts of the PCC in the anti-doping movement.
113 – Learn How the Office of the Athlete Ombuds Supports Team USA – Kacie Wallace
Kacie Wallace is an attorney and the Team USA Athlete Ombuds. The Office of the Athlete Ombuds provides a safe place for athletes to seek confidential, independent, impartial advice, and assistance with sport related matters. In this episode, Kacie talks more about the Office of the Athlete Ombuds, the resources and services they provide, her career path, her role in clean sport, and her work advocating for athletes.
112 – Reticulocyte-related RNAs as biomarkers to detect blood doping – Francesco Loria
Francesco Loria is a Ph.D. student in biomedical science at the Swiss Laboratory for Doping Analysis in Lausanne and the University of Geneva. In this episode, we hear more about Francesco’s career, his research on the potential for reticulocyte-related RNA to be used as biomarkers to detect blood doping, and his receipt of one of this year’s PCC-sponsored Anti-doping Predoctoral Awards in partnership with the American Physiological Society (APS).
111 – Exploring Erythropoietic Outcomes After Intermittent Hypoxia – Frank Wojan, PhD
Dr. Frank Wojan recently completed his PhD in Clinical Physiology at The University of Texas at Austin, and he is currently a Senior Clinical Project Manager with Pluto Health. In this episode, Frank discusses his career path, his research on the effects of intermittent hypoxia on erythropoiesis, and the project that led to his receipt of one of this year’s PCC-sponsored Anti-doping Predoctoral Awards in partnership with the American Physiological Society (APS).
110 – Celebrating Five Decades of Anti-Doping Excellence at the DoCoLab – Peter Van Eenoo, PhD
Dr. Peter Van Eenoo is Professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences and Director of the Doping Control Laboratory (DoCoLab) at Ghent University in Belgium. In this episode, we are excited to talk more about Peter, his research and routine work at the DoCo Lab, the history of the lab, and some of their groundbreaking discoveries over the years as they celebrate their 50th anniversary this year.
109 – Examining Biotin as a Masking Agent for hCG Abuse – Jenna Goodrum, PhD
Dr. Jenna Goodrum is a Partnership for Clean Competition Fellow and Research Scientist working in the Sports Medicine Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Utah. In this podcast episode, we’re excited to discuss Jenna’s career path, her work at SMRTL, her experience as a PCC fellow, and the details of her PCC-funded research project examining biotin as a masking agent for abuse of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
108 – How Athletics Integrity Unit is Fighting for Fairness in Sport – David Howman
David Howman is Chair of the Board of Directors at the Athletics Integrity Unit for World Athletics, and he has been named Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to sport. In this episode, we discuss the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) in more detail, covering the founding of the organization, how it has changed over the years, the educational programs and resources they provide, key partnerships for the organization, and the importance of transparency in all aspects of the work done at AIU.
107 – Preventing Use of Appearance and Performance Enhancing Substances by Young Athletes – Donald Hooton, Jr.
Donald Hooton, Jr., is President of the Taylor Hooton Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and promoting education programs for young athletes. Pressure to use performance-enhancing and appearance-enhancing substances can be high for students and young athletes, and the Taylor Hooton Foundation fills a critical gap by providing education and a forum for candid discussion of these difficult topics. In this episode, Don shares the history of the foundation, their mission, and how they are contributing to the clean sport movement.
106 – Sport Integrity Australia is Working to Ensure Safe and Fair Sport For All – Naomi Spears, PhD
Dr. Naomi Spears is the former Chief Science Officer and current General Manager of Operations at Sport Integrity Australia, Australia’s designated national anti-doping organization (NADO). In our interview, we talk more about Sport Integrity Australia, the history of the organization, the details of their anti-doping program, how they are incorporating dried blood spot testing into their anti-doping program, and how they are working with others around the world to protect clean sport.
105 – Perspectives on Key Stories and Anti-Doping Efforts in Major League Baseball – Tim Brown
Tim Brown is a New York Times bestselling author and an award-winning national sports columnist covering Major League Baseball (MLB). In this episode, Tim talks about his career and gives us a behind-the-scenes view into some of the biggest stories in MLB’s recent history, including the Balco scandal, the Mitchell report, and the Biogenesis scandal. He discusses some of the major changes that MLB has implemented over the past two decades to detect and deter doping to help ensure clean sport in baseball.
104 – Doping Case Leaves Clean Athletes Still Awaiting Olympic Medals From the 2022 Games – Evan Bates and Madison Chock
Madison Chock and Evan Bates are an elite ice dancing team with numerous accolades, including being the 2023 World Champions and three-time Olympians. They were part of the Beijing 2022 U.S. Olympic Figure Skating Team that has been caught up in what is now more than a year-long saga still awaiting their medals as a result of a competitor’s positive drug test. In this episode, Madison and Evan share their stories, describe how their experiences surrounding the 2022 Olympic Games have impacted them and their teammates, and discuss their commitment to clean sport and the anti-doping movement.
103 – World Rugby’s Dedication to Keeping Sport Clean – Mike Earl
Mike Earl is Director of Anti-Doping and Game Equipment at World Rugby. In this episode, we talk more about Mike’s career in anti-doping, the components of World Rugby’s Anti-Doping programme, current challenges, key partnerships, and focus areas for the organization going forward.
102 – Research and Innovation in Blood Microsampling for Anti-Doping – Christophe Stove, PhD
Dr. Christophe Stove is a faculty member in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of the Laboratory of Toxicology at Ghent University. In this interview, he shares more about his career and his research on blood microsampling for anti-doping, including advances in microsampling approaches and strategies for addressing the hematocrit effect in dried blood samples.
101 – USOPC’s Continued Commitment to Clean Sport and Anti-Doping Science – Sarah Hirshland
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is a Founding Member of the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC) and has supported anti-doping research and innovation for 15 years through this valuable partnership. In this episode Sarah Hirshland, Chief Executive Officer of the USOPC, tells us more about the USOPC, the importance of continuing to advance anti-doping science, and what she envisions for the PCC going forward.
100 – Perspectives on the PCC’s 15 Years of Anti-Doping Excellence – Travis Tygart
Travis Tygart is Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), and he has held this position since 2007. USADA is one of the Founding Members of the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC), and Travis is an Emeritus Board of Governors Member of the PCC. In this interview, we talk more about USADA’s history and also discuss the origins and impacts of the PCC in celebration of the PCC’s 15th anniversary this year.
99 – An Inside Look at NSF and the Certified for Sport Program – John Travis
John Travis is the Certified for Sport Technical Manager at NSF, and in this interview, we talk more about NSF, John’s research, and how he and his colleagues at NSF are working to protect clean sport through their certification programs and other efforts.
98 – Measuring Peptides and Proteins in Anti-Doping – David Cowan, PhD
Dr. David Cowan is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Environmental, Analytical, and Forensic Science at King’s College London. He joins us in this interview to talk more about advances in methods for detecting and measuring peptides and proteins in anti-doping, including work on insulin, IGF-1, and P-III-NP. He also shares updates on a PCC-funded Micro-Grant project and some of the other excellent anti-doping research projects at King’s College London.
97 – Challenges and Progress in Measuring Doping Prevalence – Andrea Petroczi, PhD
Professor Andrea Petroczi is Professor of Public Health at Kingston University London, and she is Chair of the WADA Working Group on Doping Prevalence. Andrea has various areas of expertise in anti-doping, but in this episode we focus our conversation on doping prevalence. She discusses exciting new research in the field, challenges, and opportunities for the future.
96 – Research Updates on Activity-Based Bioassays to Detect HIF Stabilizers and Cannabinoids – Liesl Janssens
Liesl Janssens is a PhD Student at the laboratory of Toxicology at Ghent University. She joins us again in this episode to give us an update on her research focused on developing new detection methods for Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) stabilizers. She also discusses recent work that she and her colleagues have been doing to characterize and detect cannabinoids, opioids, and psychedelics using similar activity-based assays.
95 – Anti-Doping Norway’s Use of Intelligence to Inform Test Planning – Fredrik Lauritzen, PhD
Dr. Fredrik Lauritzen is the Science Director at Anti-Doping Norway. In this episode, he shares more about Anti-Doping Norway, use of intelligence-based approaches in anti-doping, and his recent research investigating the effectiveness of using intelligence in the doping control test planning process. You can contact Fredrik by email at fredrik.lauritzen[at]antidoping.no with any questions.
94 – Advances and Innovation from the Center for Research & Expertise in Anti-Doping sciences – Raphaël Faiss, PhD
Dr. Raphaël Faiss is Research Manager at the Center for Research & Expertise in Anti-Doping sciences (REDs) and Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University of Lausanne. He is also a former elite cyclist. In this episode, Raphaël shares more about the REDs, anti-doping research, and some of his current research projects, including work investigating potential confounding factors in the Athlete Biological Passport. He also discusses his collaboration on a PCC-funded research project investigating the potential use of performance monitoring to augment anti-doping efforts.
93 – PGA TOUR’s Anti-Doping Program – Renee Tomb
Renee Tomb is Director of Policy Administration at PGA TOUR. In this episode, Renee discusses her work, PGA TOUR’s Anti-Doping Program, and why the PGA TOUR’s clean sport efforts are so critical.
92 – Clean Sport Programs and Initiatives at UK Anti-Doping – Jane Rumble
Jane Rumble is Chief Executive at UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). In our conversation, we discuss Jane’s career, UKAD and its history, their efforts to ensure clean sport in the UK, and how the organization has changed and incorporated new innovations over the years.
91 – Developing Instruments for Chemical Analysis in Anti-Doping and Beyond – Andrew Jones, PhD
Dr. Andrew Jones is the CEO and Co-Founder of Activated Research Company, a company dedicated to creating new products to make chemical analysis easy and accessible. In our conversation, we talk more about Andrew’s career, the innovative products he is developing at Activated Research Company, and how their products can be used to advance anti-doping.
90 – Investigating Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry for Anti-Doping – Chris Chouinard, PhD
Dr. Chris Chouinard is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Clemson University. In this episode, we discuss Chris’s career, his PCC-funded research investigating the development and potential applications of ion mobility-mass spectrometry for anti-doping, and how his work may impact anti-doping and other fields.