Australian chemist wins anti-doping award

Sydney researcher Adam Cawley has won the 2007 Manfred Donike prize for scientific excellence, sponsored by Agilent Technologies.

Cawley is a chemist at the National Measurement Institute of Australia and a doctoral student at the University of Sydney's School of Chemistry. He was honoured for his research on the diagnostic value of specific urine-sample screening markers for endogenous steroid abuse in athletes.

Agilent sponsors this annual award, first presented in 1997, to recognise distinguished scientific contributions in the field of sports medicine. The company said award winners were scientists who exemplified the spirit and scientific leadership of doping-control pioneer Manfred Donike, and whose contributions significantly advances the cause of fairness in sports competition.

Cawley collaborated with other researchers, including Ray Kazlauskas and Graham Trout of the National Measurement Institute of Australia, Adrian George of the University of Sydney's School of Chemistry, and Robert Weatherby and Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik of Southern Cross University in Lismore.

His doctoral studies involve working as a research scientist with the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory to develop methods of analysis capable of detecting steroid abuse in athletes. A member of the World Association of Anti-Doping Scientists, he served as an endogenous steroid analyst for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games.

Since the 1972 Olympic Games, when drug testing was first required, Agilent has been the major supplier of drug-testing equipment to elite sports competitions worldwide, including international World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) labs.

Source: Agilent Technologies