136 – Anti-Doping Research and Innovation at the UK’s Drug Control Center – Kim Wolff, PhD
Professor Kim Wolff is Director of King’s Forensics and head of the Drug Control Centre, which is the only WADA accredited laboratory for sports testing in the United Kingdom. She is also Director of the London Athlete Passport Management Unit (APMU), and she was named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to road safety. Kim discusses her career and her work leading the WADA-Accredited Doping Control Centre and their APMU. She shares insights on the lab’s history, how they have incorporated the Endocrine Module of the Athlete Passport into their operations, and areas of opportunity in anti-doping and forensic toxicology research. Kim also touches on ongoing research projects focused on detecting the administration of naturally occurring steroids, identifying and measuring longer-term steroid metabolites, detecting steroids and other substances using dried blood spots, and more.
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39 – Major League Baseball’s Response to COVID-19 – Jon Coyles, JD
Jon Coyles is Vice President of Drug, Health and Safety Programs at Major League Baseball (MLB). In this episode, he gives us a behind-the-scenes look at some of the biggest challenges that MLB has faced as a result of COVID-19, the safety protocols they developed in response to the pandemic, how these protocols were developed, MLB’s COVID-19 testing requirements and logistics, as well as the impacts of the pandemic on MLB’s anti-doping programs, their regular season, and the postseason as it begins.
38 – Impacts of Altitude and Iron Supplementation on Haematological Responses – Laura Garvican-Lewis, PhD
Dr. Laura Lewis is Director of Science at the US Anti-Doping Agency. Previously, she was a Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University. She was awarded a PCC Research Grant in 2015 and a PCC Fellowship in 2018. We discuss her work on hematological responses to altitude training and iron supplementation, how these impact the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), her recent work validating a model that addresses blood plasma volume variance in the ABP, and her experiences as a PCC Fellow.
37 – Dietary Supplement Certification to Protect Athletes – Lori Bestervelt, PhD
Dr. Lori Bestervelt is Director of Business Development & Partnerships at ChemFORWARD, a nonprofit collaboration of brands, retailers, and NGOs providing high quality, actionable data on chemical hazards. She was formerly Executive Vice President & Chief Science Officer at NSF International, an independent, global, accredited inspection organization. Lori discusses anti-doping issues related to dietary supplements, how supplements are regulated, and her work to create the NSF Certified for Sport Program.
36 – Physician Committed to Clean Sport and Athlete Safety – Ed Merrens, MD, MHCDS
Dr. Ed Merrens is Chief Clinical Officer and a Hospitalist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, and Board Member of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). He shares his perspective on challenges in anti-doping, the impacts of COVID-19 on sport, and exciting developments in anti-doping. Ed also discusses his role on the Board of USADA and his experiences as a team physician for U.S. Biathlon and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
35 – Intelligence-Based Anti-Doping and International Anti-Doping Efforts – Michael Ask
Michael Ask is CEO of Anti-Doping Denmark and Chairman of the International Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (iNADO). He discusses intelligence-based anti-doping, different types of evidence they collect in anti-doping cases, the goals and objectives of iNADO, the importance of anti-doping education, the wide variety of disciplines that come together in anti-doping, and how his previous career in law enforcement with the Danish National Police Force has helped him in his current roles.
34 – Executive Director Update on the PCC’s Response to COVID-19 – Michael Pearlmutter, MBA
Michael Pearlmutter, MBA, is Executive Director of the Partnership for Clean Competition (PCC). In this episode, Michael provides an update on how the PCC and the anti-doping community have been impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the PCC’s recent partnerships to support COVID-19 testing and research, and the PCC’s dedication to public health and ensuring the health and safety of all athletes during this challenging time.
33 – An Inside Look at a WADA-Accredited Laboratory – Francesco Botrè, PhD
Francesco Botrè, PhD, is Director of the WADA-Accredited Laboratorio Antidoping Federazione Medico Sportiva Italiana (FMSI Anti-Doping Lab). He shares the history of FMSI Lab and the complex process of how samples are collected, delivered, anonymized, processed, analyzed, and interpreted by the lab. Francesco also discusses his research on doping masking agents, metabolic modulators, and drug-drug interactions, as well as his experiences running testing in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy.
32 – Potential Applications of Performance Monitoring in Anti-Doping – James Hopker, PhD
Dr. James Hopker is a Reader in Exercise Physiology, Director of Postgraduate Research, and Acting Head of School for the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the University of Kent. He is an expert on exercise training, and he has been studying applications of performance monitoring in anti-doping. We discuss how an Athlete Performance Passport may complement the Athlete Biological Passport, the role of technology in performance monitoring, and strengths and limitations of this approach in anti-doping.
31 – Driving Innovation in Sample Collection Equipment – Gabe Baida
Gabe Baida is currently Executive Director of InnoVero, and he was formerly UFC and Premier Sport Director at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. In this episode, he discusses his prior work with USADA, issues with maintaining the security and integrity of samples and sample collection equipment, the security features and benefits of the new InnoVero Safe System, the importance of collaboration in developing novel anti-doping products, and the need for continued innovation in anti-doping testing and equipment.
30 – Using Optical Sensors to Detect Doping – Judy Su, PhD
Dr. Judy Su is Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Optical Sciences, and the BIO5 Institute at the University of Arizona. She is developing novel sensors that use light to detect extremely low concentrations of substances. She shares how the sensors are made, how they work, and how they could be used in testing for doping. Beyond their high sensitivity, the sensors deliver results rapidly, require low sample volumes, and are better suited to detecting microdosing and drugs with a short half life.
29 – Developing Evidence-Informed Interventions to Enhance Anti-Doping Programs – Susan Backhouse, PhD
Susan Backhouse, PhD is Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Nutrition as well as Director of Research for Sport and Exercise Science, Leisure, and Tourism at Leeds Beckett University. She discusses the bystander effect and an anti-doping bystander intervention program she helped develop, creating the largest coach-centered doping education program in the world, issues with therapeutic use exemptions for asthma, aspects of the behavioral science of whistleblowing and reporting doping in sport, and more.
28 – All About Anti-Doping Reference Materials – Lindsey Mackay, PhD
Dr. Lindsey Mackay is General Manager at the National Measurement Institute in Australia. She tells us what reference materials are, how they are used in drug testing labs, why they are critical for anti-doping, how they are made, how they are distributed, and more. She also shares major challenges in making reference materials and a recent project in which they created new reference materials to differentiate between testosterone-related steroids from external sources versus made naturally by the body.
27 – Exploring Key Issues in Sports Ethics and Integrity – Mike McNamee, PhD
Dr. Mike McNamee holds Professorships at Swansea University, UK; and KU Leuven, Belgium, and he is Programme Director of the world’s only Master Degree in Sport Ethics and Integrity, sponsored by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme. He is a renowned expert in sports ethics, sports integrity, and anti-doping policy. We discuss a variety of ethical issues related to fair sport, including athlete privacy concerns in providing whereabouts, security issues for athletes’ data, use of advanced technology and prosthetics in sport, match fixing, and more in this episode.
26 – Paracanoe Athlete Shares Her Path to Competing on Team USA – Channing Cash
Channing Cash is an accomplished Team USA Paracanoe Athlete, and she tells us the incredible series of events that led to her becoming a professional athlete. We cover her early childhood in a small village in Laos, the many struggles she has overcome, constructive ways to cope with roadblocks in performance, her experiences with anti-doping education and testing programs as an athlete, challenges athletes face with inadvertent ingestion of banned substances in supplements and other consumables, and more.
25 – Detecting and Deterring Growth Hormone Abuse in Sport – Richard Holt, PhD, FRCP, FHEA
Dr. Richard Holt is Professor in Diabetes and Endocrinology within Medicine at the University of Southampton. In our interview, he discusses what growth hormone is, its normal physiological functions, the mechanisms through which it may enhance athletic performance, potential side effects and dangers of doping with growth hormone, challenges in detecting growth hormone abuse, the history of growth hormone testing in sport, the new innovative growth hormone testing methods he has helped develop, and more.
24 – Using P-III-NP as a Biomarker to Detect Growth Hormone Doping – Danielle Moncrieffe, PhD
Danielle Moncrieffe, PhD is a Research Associate and Partnership for Clean Competition Research Fellow at the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London. She has been developing novel liquid chromatography methods to detect growth hormone doping by quantifying the biomarker procollagen III amino-terminal propeptide (P-III-NP). Danielle explains what P-III-NP is, its clinical relevance, and its relevance in anti-doping. She also shares her experiences as a PCC Fellow and the benefits of this fellowship.
23 – Breath Testing Technology and Other Novel Methods to Detect Doping – Mario Thevis, PhD
Dr. Mario Thevis is Vice President of Research, Professor, and Head of the Centre for Preventive Doping Research at the German Sport University of Cologne. He is also Director of the European Monitoring Center for Emerging Doping Agents, a forensic chemist, Editor-in-Chief of Drug Testing & Analysis, and a PCC scientist. He discusses challenges detecting microdosing of prohibited substances, new drug tests being developed using exhaled breath samples, recent breath testing field trials, and more.
22 – Doping Issues and Anti-Doping Programs in Horseracing – Tessa Muir
Dr. Tessa Muir, B.V.Sc., is the former Anti-Doping Manager at British Horseracing Authority. She is an equine veterinarian, a Veterinary Officer with the British Army, and a Regulatory Veterinarian at Racing Victoria. She discusses current doping issues, recent doping cases, and key anti-doping programs and strategies to detect, deter, and prevent doping in horseracing. Tessa also shares important similarities and differences between equine and human sports for anti-doping and other integrity concerns.
21 – Using Nanomaterials to Advance Anti-Doping Testing Methods – Nicolas Voelcker, PhD
Dr. Nicolas Voelcker is Scientific Director of the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, Professor at Monash University, and Science Leader at the CSIRO. He shares how applying his expertise in nanomaterials to anti-doping allowed him to work on exciting research projects and take advantage of great funding opportunities. He also describes the anti-doping testing applications of a porous silicon nanomaterial he works on, and how this material is used with mass spectrometry to detect prohibited substances.
20 – EPO Doping and the Development of Tests to Detect and Deter It – Steve Elliott, PhD
Dr. Steve Elliott is a former Scientific Executive Director at Amgen, an expert on the process of creating new red blood cells (i.e. erythropoiesis), and a champion of anti-doping. He dives into what erythropoietin (EPO) is, how it’s made in the body, the impacts of not having enough EPO, and how EPO abuse can enhance athletic performance. We also cover tests developed to detect EPO and recombinant EPO abuse, and the red flags scientists look for to determine if athletes have been doping with EPO.
19 – Sports Writer Shares Stories and Insights About Anti-Doping Reporting – Bonnie Ford
Bonnie Ford is a senior writer for ESPN.com who has over two decades of experience covering sports and anti-doping. She shares challenges associated with making anti-doping stories interesting and accessible for general audiences as well as the pressures and stresses of sports journalism. Bonnie also discusses guidelines for responsible journalism when covering sensitive anti-doping cases, potential pros and cons of making doping cases public, and the evolution of her anti-doping reporting over the years.
18 – Leading World Lacrosse and Championing Clean Sport – Jim Scherr
Jim Scherr is the former CEO of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and he is the inaugural CEO of World Lacrosse. In this interview, he talks about the history of the sport of lacrosse, current and long-term goals for World Lacrosse, lacrosse anti-doping and athlete education programs, anti-doping challenges associated with being a growing sport, his experiences as an Olympic and World Champion wrestler, his prior roles with USA Wrestling and the USOC, the evolution of anti-doping, and more.
17 – The Discovery and Development of Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators – Jim Dalton, PhD
Dr. Jim Dalton is Dean and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan. He breaks down what exactly selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are, how they work, and how they are being used for both therapeutic and doping purposes. He also talks about barriers to getting FDA approval of SARMs, issues with supplements containing SARM contaminants, and his experiences being on the PCC’s Scientific Advisory Board with other leading anti-doping scientists.
16 – Dried Blood Spots and Other Alternative Sampling Methods – Daniel Eichner, PhD
Dr. Daniel Eichner is President and Director of the Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City. He discusses the benefits and limitations of using dried blood spot sampling and sample collection via exhaled breath and oral fluids, as well as recent field trials with these technologies. He also shares his experiences running a WADA-accredited lab that does research and routine testing, developing new tests for biomarkers of doping, and current anti-doping research priorities.
15 – Life as a Doping Control Officer – Matt from Drug Free Sport International
Matt is a Doping Control Officer (DCO) with Drug Free Sport international, and he shares a candid account of what it’s like to be a DCO. He discusses unexpected occurrences during doping control missions, the behind-the-scenes roles and responsibilities of DCOs working in the field, the rigorous training process required to become a DCO, the variety of challenges he faces in collecting and protecting the integrity of samples, improvements in doping control processes and technology over time, and more!