144 – Anti-Doping Excellence at the Helsinki Doping Control Laboratory – Tina Suominen, PhD
Dr. Tina Suominen is Director of the Helsinki Doping Control Laboratory within the Forensic Chemistry Unit at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) in Helsinki, Finland. In this episode, she discusses her role as Director of a WADA-Accredited Anti-Doping Laboratory, the lab’s history (including a major move and re-accreditation), and the latest research and methods development projects she and her colleagues have been working on in the lab.
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47 – Updates on Research at the World Anti-Doping Agency – Marcia MacDonald, PhD
Dr. Marcia MacDonald is a Deputy Director of Science and Medicine at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). In this interview, we discuss how Marcia began her career in anti-doping, the history of WADA’s anti-doping research program, and their current research priorities. She also shares information about new and ongoing anti-doping research projects, funding opportunities for researchers, implementation of newly developed anti-doping techniques and technology, and more.
46 – International Sports Law, Arbitration, and Anti-Doping – Dr. Despina Mavromati
Dr. Despina Mavromati is an attorney with SportLegis Lausanne specializing in international sports law and arbitration. She is also a Member of the Appeals Body of The Union of European Football Associations, a Member of the Independent Disciplinary Tribunal of World Athletics, and a Member of the Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration of the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we talk about current issues in anti-doping law and arbitration, Despina’s career, and her work.
45 – Applications of Tandem Mass Spec, Bioinformatics, and Proteomics in Anti-Doping – John Yates III, PhD
Dr. John Yates is the Ernest W. Hahn Professor in the Departments of Molecular Medicine and Neurobiology at The Scripps Research Institute in California. He is also a member of the PCC’s Scientific Advisory Board and a world-renowned expert in proteomics. In this episode, he discusses his career path, his research, impacts of the global pandemic, and potential applications of advanced analytical approaches such as tandem mass spec, bioinformatics, and proteomics for anti-doping.
44 – An In-Depth Look at Anti-Doping Investigations at Major League Baseball – Moira Weinberg, JD
Moira Weinberg is Vice President of Investigations and Deputy General Counsel at Major League Baseball (MLB). In our interview, she discusses the formation and organization of Major League Baseball’s Department of Investigations, some of the different types of cases they handle, the general process involved in conducting investigations for anti-doping and other cases, key anti-doping programs and resources for players, and some of the major challenges and priorities for MLB investigations.
43 – Remote Drug Testing and Preparing For Future Crises – Matthew Fedoruk, PhD
Dr. Matthew Fedoruk is Chief Science Officer at the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). In this interview, we talk about USADA’s new remote drug testing program, how USADA has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, major challenges the global anti-doping community is currently facing, and his role in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s Strategic Testing Expert Group focused on preparing for future crises.
42 – Paralympic Powerlifter Advocates for Anti-Doping – Ali Jawad
Ali Jawad is an accomplished British powerlifter and Board Member of the Commonwealth Games Team England. He was awarded a bronze medal in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a silver medal in the 2016 Paralympic Games, and gold medals in the 2015 IPC Powerlifting European Championships and 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships. Ali discusses his career, some of the challenges he has faced, his perspective on anti-doping as an elite athlete, and his work as a Member of the Start Up Group with Global Athlete.
41 – The Impacts of COVID-19 on the Olympic and Paralympic Games – Jonathan Finnoff, DO
Dr. Jonathan Finnoff is Chief Medical Officer of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC). In our interview, he discusses the timeline of events leading up to the postponement of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the broad spectrum of effects this pandemic has had on athletes, new protocols and safety measures in place at training centers, anti-doping and COVID-19 testing procedures, and how the USOPC has been dealing with some of the major challenges that have arisen during this pandemic.
40 – How PGA TOUR Is Handling COVID-19 – Andy Levinson
Andy Levinson is Senior Vice President of Tournament Administration at PGA TOUR and Executive Director of USA GOLF. In our interview, he provides an insider look at how PGA TOUR has navigated some of the major challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the new protocols and restrictions they have put in place to protect players, staff, and spectators. He also discusses their innovative solution to addressing issues surrounding COVID-19 testing for players, impacts on their anti-doping programs, and more.
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.