Ricardo Gutierrez Gallego of Barcelona cited for work to detect protein hormone abuse by examining structural differences between endogenous molecules and their exogenous variants
Agilent Technologies has announced that its 2004 Manfred Donike Award for scientific excellence in doping control has been awarded to Ricardo Gutierrez Gallego, researcher at the Municipal Institute of Medical Research (IMIM) and professor at the University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain.
Gutierrez Gallego was honored for his contributions to the detection of biologically based performance enhancers such as erythropoietin and growth hormone.
Agilent sponsors this award annually to recognise distinguished scientific contributions in the field of sports medicine.
Award winners are scientists who exemplify the spirit and scientific leadership of Manfred Donike and whose contributions to doping control technology significantly advance the cause of fairness in athletic competition.
The award consists of the Donike Medal and a cash prize of ?3500.
Marie-Therese Donike, wife of the late professor, and Stuart Cram of Agilent, presented the award at the 22nd annual Manfred Donike doping control workshop in Cologne, Germany.
"We are proud to honour the achievements of Professor Gutierrez Gallego and his team at IMIM, whose work addresses some of the most complex problems in drug testing," said Cram, worldwide business development manager for Agilent's life sciences and chemical analysis business.
"Professor Gutierrez Gallego has opened the door for other laboratories to develop testing methods with higher sensitivity and specificity.
"This will enable accurate and effective monitoring of new biological doping agents worldwide".
Guti‚rrez Gallego joined the pharmacology research unit of IMIM in June 2001.
In September of that year, he was appointed associate professor of experimental and health sciences at the University Pompeu Fabra.
His research focuses on the development of analytical tools for proteomics and glycomics. He won the Donike Award for his work on tools to detect protein hormone abuse by examining structural differences between endogenous molecules and their exogenous variants.
Agilent has been the major supplier of drug-testing equipment to elite sports competitions worldwide since the 1972 Olympic Games, when drug testing was first required.
Agilent presented the first Donike Award in 1997.
