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Catalonian Anti-Doping Laboratory

"WORKING FOR A CLEAN SPORT"

The Catalonian Antidoping Laboratory, formerly Barcelona Antidoping Laboratory, part of the Neurosciences Research Programme at the IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute). IMIM is part of the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park (PRBB). PRBB is located in the city of Barcelona, only 20 minutes away from the Barcelona Airport by motorway.

In October 2017, a collaboration agreement for the fight against doping in sports was signed between Consell Català de l’Esport (Catalonian Government) and IMIM, to support Laboratory activities.

Accreditations

The Catalonian Antidoping Laboratory is one of the laboratories accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to conduct doping control analyses in athletes. The Laboratory received the first accreditation in 1985 by the International Olympic Committee and has been working since then for a clean sport. The laboratory is also accredited by the Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC) since 1994, to conduct doping tests in animals.

In order to carry out its activities and comply with the WADA and AORC directives, the Laboratory is also accredited since 2000 in accordance to the quality standard ISO 17025 by the Spanish accreditation body, Entidad Nacional de Accreditación (ENAC nº 239/LE485).

Analytical services

The main objective of the Catalonian Antidoping Laboratory is to offer high quality and reliable services for doping control in sports. The Laboratory analyses samples collected at competitions (in competition tests) or during training periods (out of competition tests) at request of national, foreign and international sports organizations.

The Laboratory has experience in antidoping analyses during major sport events including:

• XI Pan American Games, La Havana (Cuba) 1991 (satellite laboratory in Havana)
• XXV Olympic Games, Barcelona 1992 - IX Paralympic Games, Barcelona 1992
• XII Pan American Games, Mar del Plata (Argentina) 1995 (satellite laboratory in Buenos Aires)
• XIII Asian Games in Bangkok (Thailand), 1998
• 10th FINA World Championships, Barcelona 2003
• 11th Pan Arab Games, Cairo (Egypt) 2007
• 20th European Athletics Championships, Barcelona 2010
• XVI Pan American Games, Guadalajara (Mexico) 2011 (satellite laboratory in Mexico DF)
• 14th World Junior Championships in Athletics, Barcelona 2012
• 11th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m), Istanbul (Turkey) 2012
• 15th FINA World Championships, Barcelona 2013
• 18^th Mediterranean Games, Tarragona 2018 

AMPU services

The Laboratory was approved as APMU (Athlete Passport Management Unit) in September 2019, to start operation in January 2020. The Laboratory has agreements with National Anti-Doping Organizations and International Federations for the management of steroidal and haematological modules of the athlete's biological passport. 

Training of other antidoping laboratories

The Catalonian Antidoping Laboratory has participated in the training and consultory of other laboratories to obtain WADA accreditation:

• National Doping Control Centre , Banghok, Thailand  
• Laboratório Brasileiro de Controle de Dopagem, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
• Turkish Doping Control Center, Ankara, Turkey  
• Antidoping Laboratory Sports Medicine Institute, Havana, Cuba  
• Laboratorio Nacional de Prevención y Control del Dopaje-CONADE, Mexico DF, Mexico  
• Antidoping Laboratory Qatar, Doha, Qatar
• Egyptian Antidoping Laboratory, Cairo, Egypt.

Research activities

The Laboratory develops an important research activity throught the Doping Control Research Group. It has been recognized as a consolidated research group (2017 SGR 81) by AGAUR (Catalonian Government)

The aim of the research is to contribute to the progress of doping control in sports, with the objective to ensure a clean sport and to protect the health of athletes and general population. 

The research work is focused in the develoment and improvement of analytical methodologies to detect the use of doping agents, and the investigation of new markers to improve the detection of prohibited susbtances and prohibited methods. The current main research lines are:

• Detection of the administration of exogenous (long-term metabolites) and endogenous steroids.
• Studies on the factors affecting the steroid profile.
• Discrimination of prohibited and allowed use of glucocorticoids and β2-agonists.
• Detection of the misuse of blood transfusion in sports.
• Detection of growth hormone releasing peptides.
• Use of dried blood spots in doping control

The research projects are funded by national and international organizations (research projects).

The Laboratory has published over 200 scientific articles (scientific publications), and staff of the laboratory has been awarded for their scientific activity (Manfred Donike Award-Scientific Excellence in Dope Analysis in years 2003, 2004; Spanish National Award in Research in Sports Medicine in 2010)

University teaching

Researchers of the laboratory are actively involved in several teaching programmes, among others:

• Human Biology Degree, Pompeu Fabra University;
• Master in Laboratory of Analysis, Pompeu Fabra University;
• European Master on Quality in Analytical Laboratories, University of Barcelona;
• Master in Forensic Analysis, University of Basc Country ;
• Título propio: Química y genètica en nutrición y deporte, Universidad del País Vasco, Bilbao;
• Master in Applied Chromatographic Techniques, Universitat Jaume I, Universitat de Girona i Universitat Rovira i Virgili;
• Master in Analytical Chemistry, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona;
• Escola Professional de Medicina de l’Educació Física i l’Esport, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona

As a result of the research activity and the connection with the university world, a large number of Doctoral Theses have been developed in the Laboratory.