The Anti-Doping Podcast

Phil Andrews is the Chief Executive Officer of USA Weightlifting. He has brought about significant reform to weightlifting internationally, especially in the area of anti-doping. In this episode, he discusses USA Weightlifting's anti-doping efforts, recent controversy with the International Weightlifting Federation, implications for participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the way fo...

Howard Jacobs is an attorney and a leading advocate for athletes around the world in doping matters. He has represented more than 300 athletes in disciplinary cases related to various issues in sport. In this interview, Howard shares insights about what it's like working in anti-doping law, walks through the steps he takes when working on an anti-doping case, and discusses experiences from some of...

Dr. Jean-Francois  Naud  is  Deputy Director and Research Associate at the Doping Control Laboratory of the National Institute of Scientific Research (INRS) in Québec, Canada. In our interview, he discusses his work at the WADA-accredited Doping Control Laboratory, his path to becoming an anti-doping scientist, his research to improve our ability to detect blood doping, his role in anti-doping tes...

Dr. Federico Ponzetto is a part of the PCC Fellowship Program and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Medical Sciences of the University of Turin in Italy. In this interview, we discuss the Steroid Module of the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) and how Dr. Ponzetto's research will impact the ABP. He also shares his experiences as a PCC Fellow, complete with advice for those who mi...

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, implement...

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 epi...

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 a...

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...

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 f...

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 persp...

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,...

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...

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 impa...

Dr. Laura Garvican -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 haematological responses to altitude training and iron supplementation, how these impact the Athlete Biological Passport (ABP), her recent work va...

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 di...

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...

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 pr...

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 athlete...

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...

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 Passpo...

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 develo...

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 rapid...

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 exemp...

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...

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 at...