Expert Panel Members

Annually, GSSI invites subject matter experts to serve on an Expert Panel. The members below represent the 2022 Expert Panel.

Lawrence Spriet, PhD - GSSI XP Chair

University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Bio

Dr. Lawrence Spriet is a professor at the University of Guelph in Canada. His research examines how skeletal muscle generates the large amounts of energy needed to exercise and perform in work and sport situations.
Lawrence is recognized as one of the leaders in the field of exercise metabolism and has published extensively on this topic. In addition to his fundamental research, his applied research examines whether compounds that are purported to be “ergogenic” or “work enhancing” agents actually augment muscle metabolism and/or improve human performance. He also conducts hydration/sweat testing and research aimed at counteracting the effects of dehydration in athletes engaging in stop-and-go sports like ice hockey, basketball and soccer. Dr. Spriet has had a long history with GSSI, first coming on board in 1990, helping establish the Canadian GSSI Branch in 2005 and acting as Chair of XP since 2012.

XP Panel role

GSSI XP chair and SSE Editor-in-Chief

Sue Backhouse, PhD

Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, England

Bio

Professor Sue Backhouse is Director of Research in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. As an interdisciplinary researcher and behavioural scientist, Sue specialises in sporting integrity and athlete welfare, with a particular focus on doping and clean sport behaviours. She serves as an expert advisor on the World Anti-Doping  Agency Social Science Research Expert Advisory Group, the British Association of Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) Integrity Advisory Group, and the English Institute of Sport Technical Steering Panel. She convened the BASES Clean Sport Interest Group and is a founding member of the Clean Sport Alliance.

XP Topic

No guarantees: managing supplement risk in sport

Speaker Handout

Darren Candow, PhD, CSEP-CEP

University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Bio

Dr. Darren Candow, PhD, CSEP-CEP, is Professor and Director of the Aging Muscle and Bone Health Laboratory in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the University of Regina, Canada. The overall objectives of Dr. Candow’s research program are to develop effective lifestyle interventions involving nutrition (primarily creatine monohydrate) and physical activity (resistance training) which have practical and clinical relevance for improving musculoskeletal aging and reducing the risk of falls and fractures. Dr. Candow has published over 100 peer-refereed journal manuscripts, supervised over 20 MSc and PhD students and received research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation, and the Nutricia Research Foundation. In addition, Dr. Candow  serves on the editorial review boards  for the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, Nutrients and Frontiers.

XP Topic

Creatine supplementation: new insights and perspectives

Speaker Handout

Amelia Carr, PhD

Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

Bio

Dr Amelia Carr is a Senior Lecturer with the Centre for Sport Research and School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University in Melbourne. Amelia’s research focuses on adaptations to nutritional interventions and training strategies, and the effects on athletes’ performance. Amelia completed her undergraduate degree and Honours project, in caffeine supplementation, at the University of Western Australia (UWA), and her PhD in buffering agents, through UWA at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. Amelia worked with the Australian Defence Force as a Performance Scientist before commencing her current role at Deakin University, and she has completed post-doctoral research visits to national training centres in Sweden and China. Amelia’s current projects include research programs which focus on buffering, hyperhydration and heat acclimation training for athletes, and a national program which implements evidence-based buffering protocols for elite Australian runners.

XP Topic

Buffers: Perspectives on use in isolation or combination for physical performance in males and females.

Speaker Handout

Cheryl Cooky, PhD

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Bio

Cheryl Cooky is a professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. Her research focuses on three areas: gendered media representations of sport; gender politics of sport and public policies; and how gender shapes sports experiences, cultural meanings, and organizational structures in sports. She is the co-author of Serving Equality: Feminism, Media and Women’s Sports (2022, Peter Lang Publishers) No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change (2018, Rutgers University Press). Her research is published in a diverse array of journals including Journal of Sex Research, Sex Roles, Gender and Society, American Journal of Bioethics, Sociology of Sport Journal, among others. Committed to making research accessible to general audiences, Dr. Cooky has authored opinion-editorial articles, appeared as an expert in several documentary films, television and radio programs, and has been quoted in over 100 national and international news media outlets including The New York Times, The Atlantic, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Washington Post, Forbes, Globe & Mail, The Guardian, National Public Radio, among others. She is a past-president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and Editor of Sociology of Sport Journal, the flagship journal of the field.

XP Topic

The unevenness of social change in women's sports in the United States: historical and contemporary perspectives.

Speaker Handout

Martin Gibala, PhD

McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Bio

Dr. Martin Gibala is a professor and the Faculty of Science Research Chair in Integrative Exercise Physiology at McMaster University. His research examines the mechanistic basis of exercise responses in humans, and associated health impacts. Dr. Gibala’s science communication efforts include a bestselling book on the topic of time-efficient exercise, The One-Minute Workout: Science Shows a Way to Get Fit That’s Smarter, Faster, Shorter. He also co-teaches a massive open online course, Hacking Exercise For Health. The surprising new science of fitness. Developed with McMaster colleagues, the course content can be accessed for free through the Coursera learning platform.

XP Topic

Update on high-intensity interval training for athletes and health and wellness

Speaker Handout

Peter Peeling, PhD

University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia

Bio

Peter received his PhD from the University of Western Australia (UWA), where he investigated the impact of exercise on various mechanisms associated to iron deficiency in endurance athletes. This work highlighted the influence of exercise-induced inflammation on the transient increase of the hormone, hepcidin, which plays a regulatory role in controlling dietary iron absorption in the gut. Since this time, Peter has continued to explore the impact of exercise on iron metabolism, with a focus on practical strategies that can optimise iron stores in active populations. In addition to his research interests, Peter has also worked as an applied sports physiologist in the Australian National Institute Network, where he provided sports science services in the daily training environment of many Western Australian athletes competing at a National and International level across multiple 4-year Olympic cycles. As Peter’s role in the NIN has progressed, he now finds himself as the Director of Research at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS), where he oversees the WA High Performance Sport Research Centre. This centre is a collaborative principal partnership between UWA and WAIS, providing evidence-based, innovative solutions to performance-driven questions, through practical and applied research, which can be translated into an athlete’s daily training environment to optimise current practice or performance. Finally, Peter holds a teaching and research role at the University of Western Australia, in the School of Human Sciences, where he teaches courses in general health and fitness, and applied sports physiology. In this role, Peter also supervises several graduate research students in areas relevant to iron metabolism; training methodologies for enhanced athlete adaptation; and the efficacy of various ergogenic aids on athletic performance.

XP Topic

Addressing deficiencies in athlete nutrition: vitamins and minerals

Speaker Handout

Yannis Pitsiladis, BSc, MMEDSci, PhD, FACSM

University of Brighton, Brighton, England

Bio

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has an established history of research into the importance of lifestyle and genetics for human health and performance. Following 15 years at the University of Glasgow, Scotland where he created the largest known DNA biobank from world-class athletes and one of the largest DNA biobanks in school-aged children, he was appointed (in 2013) Professor of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Brighton. His current research priorities include the application of “omics” to the detection of drugs in sport and the “athletic gender”, and threats and opportunities of technological innovations in sport. His most recent research is funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he is currently a member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Scientific Commission of the International Sports Medicine Federation (FIMS), Chair of the Scientific and Education Commission of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), a member of WADA’s Health Medical Research Committee (HMRC) and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). He has published over 220 peer-reviewed papers, written and edited a number of books and has featured in numerous research documentaries and popular books. 

XP Topic

Technology innovation and guardrails in sport.

Speaker Handout

Ian Rollo, PhD

Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Beaumont Park, England

Bio

Ian is a principal scientist and head of GSSI International. His research interest is focused on sports nutrition. Ian earned his bachelors degree from Birmingham University in sport and exercise science and masters degree from Loughborough University in exercise physiology. In 2009 he received a PhD from Loughborough University under the supervision of Professor Clyde Williams. In 2005 he worked at the August Krogh Institute, Denmark, assisting in studies on mechanisms of fatigue during high intensity exercise and optimizing nutritional strategies for soccer. Ian has previously been a consultant in professional soccer and rugby. Dr Rollo is an honorary research fellow at Loughborough University, where he previously led MSc module on Sport and Exercise Nutrition. His current role involves providing nutritional support for professional soccer clubs such as FC Barcelona and Manchester City FC. Ian also manages clinical research projects and is involved in developing novel technologies to support athletic performance. Finally, Ian leads the PepsiCo innovation team on healthy aging. He continues to author publications and deliver invited presentations globally.

XP Topic

Carbohydrate nutrition and team sport performance: an update and focus on skilled actions.

Speaker Handout

Kevin D Tipton, PhD

The Gatorade Sports Science Institute pays respect to Professor Kevin Tipton, who sadly passed away on January 9, 2022. Kevin Tipton was a Professor of Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism.

Professor Kevin Tipton, “Kev”, was a great scientist. His contribution to the field of sports nutrition and protein metabolism will live on long after his passing. Not only through his contribution to science but through the huge positive influence he had on the many students he taught and the many professionals he mentored.

His research focused on nutrition and exercise metabolism with emphasis on protein nutrition and metabolism in athletes, healthy volunteers and clinical populations. Kevin authored over 100 papers, book chapters and review articles. He served as an Associate Editor for Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and served on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. He also served on the National Academy of Science’s, Institute of Medicine, Committee for Military Nutrition Research. Kevin also contributed to sports nutrition consensus statements for the IOC, FIFA, FINA and IAAF and also served on the UK Sport Nutritional Supplements Advisory Board. Most recently, Kevin was a Professor at Durham University in the U.K, whilst also consulting with the Institute of Performance Nutrition. Beyond academia, Kevin coached and served as fitness and nutrition advisor for amateur soccer clubs. However, it would be amiss not to mention his passion for all things Rugby. A sport which he played, supported and loved. 

Kevin delivered invited presentations at numerous international conferences on topics related to exercise, nutrition and health. For those who had the pleasure of meeting him, you would know he always had time for people, for debate, for advice, for e-mails as well as social media communications. Kevin was a friend of GSSI. He contributed to many GSSI education and conference events. His review in Sports Medicine, “Nutritional Support for Exercise-Induced Injuries” which he wrote as a GSSI XP member, has had over 25,000 reads, and remains the “go-to” review on the topic.

The picture is one of Kevin walking in the hills of his adopted Scotland, with his beloved dog, Reiver. Thank you Kev. Rest in peace. You will be missed.

GSSI Contributions

SSE #169: Nutritional Support for Injuries Requiring Reduced Activity

SSE #170: Branched-Chain Amino Acid supplementation to Support Muscle Anabolism Following Exercise

SSE #172: Factors that Influence the Amount of Protein Necessary to Maximize the Anabolic Response to Muscle Following Resistance Exercise

Sports Medicine (2015) 45 (Suppl 1): S93-S1-4 Nutritional Support for Exercise-Induced Injuries