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First WADA Science and Investigations Symposium takes place in Istanbul

2014-11-04 10:31 WADA

November 3, 2014 - The fields of science and investigations convened in Istanbul, Turkey last week to discuss how enhanced sharing of information and combined activities could help improve tools and develop new strategies to combat the use of drugs in sport.

The WADA Science and Investigations Symposium – which ran from 28 – 29 October – involved experts from the investigations and anti-doping science sectors, as well as representatives from national and international drug enforcement agencies, sharing ideas on topics such as: recent developments in investigations on the illegal circulation of drugs; the identification of new drugs with doping potential; and the strengthening of communication and data sharing within anti-doping and between institutions involved in drug surveillance and enforcement.

Leading figures from the anti-doping and sports worlds joined representatives from organizations such as INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to debate how science and investigations combined could help protect the clean athlete. Participants included WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie; Chairman of the WADA Health, Medical and Research Committee, Arne Ljungqvist; President of the Turkish Olympic Committee, Professor Ugur Erdener; and WADA Director of Science, Dr. Olivier Rabin.

WADA President, Sir Craig Reedie: “Thanks to the organizational support of the Turkish Olympic Committee and the Turkish Ministry of Youth and Sport, we were able to host a tremendous first Science and Investigations Symposium. The very fact that we have been able to stage such an event now is I believe a mark of how far anti-doping has evolved in recent years.

“We expect this Symposium to result in significant improvements in the gathering and sharing of information regarding drugs that are of concern to both sport and wider society. Bringing together such a wide array of experts, with the introduction of the revised Code and renamed International Standard for Testing and Investigations (ISTI) just weeks away, was an important step to take. We were able to share ideas, and crucially learn more about the direction in which we are moving with anti-doping.”

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