The PCC is once again delighted to attend the Manfred Donike Workshop, held annually in Cologne, Germany. 2019 marks the 37th iteration of the event.

The conference is hosted by Dr. Mario Thevis, head of the Centre for Preventative Doping Research and Vice President of research at the German Sport University Cologne, and one of the PCC’s most frequently funded researchers. Dr. Thevis is also Editor-in-Chief of Drug Testing & Analysis, which publishes an annual volume featuring research presented during the Workshop (the 2017 version can be viewed here, and the 2018 version here).

The week-long Workshop will feature presentations from scientists worldwide sharing their contributions to sports drug testing knowledge and advancement. The presented topics, which range from analytical drug detection strategies to investigations on drug-kit tampering, all represent the most up-to-date research findings in the field, many of them funded through PCC Grants, Micro-grants, or Working Groups.

The following PCC funded investigators will be exhibiting their research during this year’s Workshop:

(in order of presentation)

Dr. Mario Thevis (DE), Dr. Geoffery Miller (US) , Dr. Daniel Eichner (US), Dr. Ryan Van Wagoner (US), Dr. Peter Van Eenoo (BE), Dr. Christian Reichel (AT), Dr. Rosa Ventura (ES), Dr. Thomas Piper (DE), Dr. Michael Polet (BE), Dr. Monica Mazzarino (IT), Dr. Magnus Ericsson (SE), Dr. Detlaf Thieme (DE), Dr. Rodrigo Aguilera (QA), Prof. David Cowan (UK), Dr. Corrine Buisson (CA), Dr. Nicolas Leuenberger (CH), and Dr. Maria Renovato-Martins (BR), as well as their esteemed teams.

In addition to lectures and poster sessions, the Cologne Workshop features open discussion times, private user meetings (such as SCIEX, Agilent MS, and WAADS), and a visit to the Cologne WADA-Accredited anti-doping laboratory. Workshop attendance is by invitation only.

Manfred Donike

Dr. Manfred Donike was a German biochemist and anti-doping analysis expert credited with spurring modern drug testing in sport. The chemist and cyclist developed one of the earliest sports laboratories for research in doping issues ahead of the 1972 Munich Olympics. Additionally, Donike and technicians from the Institute for Biochemistry at the German Sports University in Cologne administered testing at the 1983 Pan America Games through use of a portable laboratory. The testing produced 19 positives, not including the multiple athletes that withdrew candidacy from their events in order to avoid testing.

According to IOC President Thomas Bach, Donike “brought the fight against doping into popular consciousness.” Dr. Donike died in 1995 at the age of 61.