USADA announces research grants

The United States Anti-Doping Agency has announced more than one million dollars in grants to fund research designed to detect new methods of prohibited performance-enhancement, including a study involving gene manipulation.

Research receiving grants includes a two-year study conducted by the Hastings Institute in Garrison, N.Y. to investigate the present and future implications of gene transfer technology and the ethical issues inherent in attempting to detect genetic manipulation. The study, led by Dr. Thomas Murray, will also address the ethics surrounding genetic testing conducted to determine the most favorable athletic traits in an individual. USADA has committed $460,000 U.S. to this research.

The USADA is also finding King's College London to the tune of $400,000 U.S. to conduct a broad study on steroids in women, including the concentrations of specific urinary steroids. The Institute of Hematology, Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Camperdown, Australia was awarded an $80,000 U.S. grant to investigate the ability to detect infusion of stored red blood cells from the same individual.

A total of $90,000 U.S. was distributed to several institutions to provide reference materials to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratories, including Albany Molecular Research, Inc. of Albany, N.Y.; the National Measurement Institute of Australia in Sydney, Australia; and ARC Seibersdorf Research Gmbh in Seibersdorf, Austria.