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Tightening the screw on sports drug cheats
The World Anti-Doping Agency is backing research at RMIT University that could
dramatically improve the effectiveness of drug-testing in sport.
The three-year, $US150,000 grant goes to Professor Philip Marriott and his team
in Chemistry, in the School of Applied Sciences.
Their work will potentially allow sporting authorities to spot the use of “designer
drugs” present in urine – including ones that have previously never been detected.
Professor Marriott said current methods analysed only known drugs, but the RMIT
research would make it possible to profile all drugs – including those previously
unknown – with an unprecedented degree of accuracy.
“Drug cheats using designer steroids are going to find it harder than ever to
disguise their drug use.
“Our breakthrough not only improves the detection process. It will also provide
data that can be archived and checked when new designer steroids are
discovered down the track.
“If things go well, this research could be ready for the validation stage in a few
years and it would be interesting to test it against conventional methods in time for
the 2012 London Olympics. Drug cheats in sport are on notice that we’re on their
trail,” Professor Marriott said.
The RMIT researchers have come up with a unique way of using gas
chromatography with mass spectrometry to achieve the low-level detection
required for steroid testing.
“We can achieve a full mass spectrum for each compound, which can be
compared with library data to give very high certainty of identification,” Professor
Marriott said.
“In future, if we find out that a new designer steroid or other drug has been used,
we can then retro-search our data for presence of the new compound. This is
impossible with present methods and should act as a powerful deterrent.”
The WADA research grant will allow RMIT researchers to screen a broad range of
drugs, in conjunction with the Thai Doping Control Laboratory at Mahidol
University and the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory.
For interviews: Professor Philip Marriott, 0011 +65 8433 7611 or 6516 2924.
Professor Marriott is in Singapore, three hours behind eastern summer time.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Communications, David
Glanz, (03) 9925 2807 or 0438 547 723.
22 November, 2009
NEWS 
