Peak Performance Speaker Information
Join these leading experts in a lively and thought-provoking discussion on the hottest topics in sports and science!
Check back often for more updates!
André Picard, Journalist, Globe and Mail, Montreal, Canada
"Is investing in science the way to win more Olympic gold? As training improves, will gender differences in performance shrink or grow? Is doping non-negotiable?"
André Picard is the public health reporter at The Globe and Mail and the author of three best-selling books. He is also a five-time finalist for the National Newspaper Awards - Canada's Pulitzer Prize. Among his other honours, André received Centennial Prize of the Pan-American Health Organization as the top public health reporter in the Americas. He lives in Montréal.
Mr. Picard will be the moderator for Peak Performance.
Dr. Edward Coyle, Director, Human Performance Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin, USA
"I think that world records in track and field (athletics) will continue to improve to levels that we today might find unimaginable. In my opinion this will not require athletes to develop outlandish morphological adaptation (e.g. extremely large hearts, super fast muscle etc). Instead, these improvements might results from the selection of individual athletes who don't have a 'weak link'. After all, performance is dependent upon the interaction of a number of factors."
Dr. Edward Coyle is an exercise physiologist and directs the Human Performance Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin. His research has focused upon the metabolic and cardiovascular factors that regulate aerobic exercise performance. He advises a number of the teams for Intercollegiate Athletics at The University of Texas at Austin. He has also advised and studied Lance Armstrong for over a decade. Dr. Coyle is a fellow in the American College of Sports Medicine and in 2006 he received their Citation Award.
Dr. Andrew Jones, Professor of Applied Physiology, School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
"I wanted to be a runner or a writer. I ended up writing about running."
Professor Andrew Jones is internationally recognised for his research both in endurance sports physiology and in cardio-respiratory physiology. In particular, he has published extensively on the control of, and limitations to, muscle oxidative metabolism in the transition from rest to exercise. Professor Jones has authored or co-authored more than 110 full peer-reviewed research articles. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Professor Jones is the consultant Physiologist to UK Athletics, and a long-time advisor to many of Britain's top distance runners.
During Peak Performance, Professor Jones will examine the physiological factors that potentially limit high-level endurance running performance and the specific training that is required to enhance them.
Dr. Saul L. Miller, Performance Specialist Consultant and Sports Psychologist
"What aspect of preparation for elite performance is most neglected?"
Dr. Saul L. Miller is one of North America's leading performance and sport psychologists. He is the author of 8 books, including his two latest: Performing Under Pressure: Gaining the Mental Edge in Business and Sport, and Why Teams Win: 9 Keys to Success in Business, Sport, and Beyond.
Dr. Miller consults with sport teams, corporations, and health organizations North America and Europe. The focus of his work is enhancing performance, team building, and coaching people to be successful while dealing effectively with pressure and change.
In sport he has worked with teams including the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Rams, Clippers and Kings, Seattle Mariners, Nashville Predators, Vancouver Canucks, Florida Panthers, plus PGA Tour golfers and Canadian, US, and European Olympians in over a dozen different sports.
A graduate of McGill University and the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London (Ph.D. Clinical Psychology) his work reflects his study of Eastern disciplines, Western psychological thinking, and over 25 years of front line experience consulting with some of the world's top performers.
Dr. Vicky Tolfrey has provided applied sport science support to Paralympic athletes since 1994, and has now been involved with 4 Paralympic Cycles. She is the Director of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport which is based at Loughborough University in the UK and has over 40 publications in disability sport which focuses upon 'wheelchair propulsion efficiency' and 'physiological characteristics of wheelchair sports'. She acts as a sport science consultant for the Great Britain Wheelchair Basketball Association and serves as a member of the International Paralympic Committee Sport Science and Medicine Group.
Dr. Darren Warburton, Department of Human Kinetics, School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia
"If you want to have success at the elite level, you must move beyond the traditional confines of sport and be willing to overcome myths."
Dr. Darren Warburton is the founder and director of the Cardiovascular Physiology and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Clinical Scholar.
He is a lead investigator in the Top Secret Own the Podium program, and oversees the training and assessment of high performance athletes from various sports. He is also leading the development and implementation of the Physical Activity Line of BC.
His internationally renowned work spans the spectrum of elite athletic performance, childhood health, quality of life in the elderly, and the treatment of patients with chronic disease and/or disability.
Dr. Brendan Burkett, Director, Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE), University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
"Is technology in Paralympic sport essential for performance or performance enhancement?"
As a past international sports person Professor Brendan Burkett was fortunate enough to represent lead the Australian team into the opening ceremony as the flag bearer at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. His sporting achievements are recognised as an inductee in the Swimming Queensland Hall of Fame and listed as one of Queensland Sporting legends in the Q150 celebrations. Professor Burkett was awarded the Professional Engineer of the Year by the Australian Institution of Engineers Australia and his teaching and research revolve around his engineering background, with a particular focus on technology for people with a disability.
Paul Melia, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, Ottawa
As President, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary-Treasurer of the CCES, Mr. Melia leads the management of CCES' operations, including the administration of Canada's Doping Control Program and working with governments and sport organizations to build a national ethics strategy for amateur sport. He is President and Chairman, True Sport Foundation and Past President, Association of National Anti-Doping Organizations (ANADO). He is also former CCES Director of Education and Communications, Chief Operations Officer and former Regional Vice-President of In-Touch Survey Systems Inc.
Mr. Melia is a graduate of the University of Ottawa with a Masters degree in Health Administration. He is former Chief of the Tobacco Programs Unit at Health Canada, responsible for the direction and management of the Department's tobacco use reduction strategies. Mr. Melia has extensive knowledge and expertise in the development and implementation of public awareness, education and social change campaigns for a variety of health and social issues
Dr. Judy Illes, Professor of Neurology, Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
"Whether the starting point is exceptional strength and agility, functioning within normal ranges, or compromised health due to disease, we need to ask, and answer, tough ethical questions in order to achieve the brain and physical well-being we seek. There can be no neurohealth without neuroethics."
Dr. Illes is Professor of Neurology and Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia. She is Director of the National Core for Neuroethics at UBC, and also holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC and as a Faculty Affiliate of Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Illes is a co-Founder and Executive Committee member of the Neuroethics Society, and Chair of Women in World Neuroscience for IBRO. Dr. Illes conducts high impact, high visibility research on the ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of neuroscience and biomedical ethics. Her work advances the discovery, translation and commercialization of new technologies for the brain into society to promote human well-being across cultures and nations, optimize brain health, mitigate the consequences of diseases of the brain such as addiction and dementia, and expand the engagement of key stakeholders in neuroscience on a global scale.
Dr. Anthony Galea, Medical Director, ISM Health and Wellness Centre, Etobicoke, Ontario; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
"Medicine is not just about healing the body, but about bringing the body into an optimal state in order to heal itself."
Dr. Galea is the founder and medical director of ISM Health and Wellness Centre, an internationally recognized sports medicine clinic in Toronto, and holds a faculty appointment with the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is world renowned for his practice in the area of treatment of musculoskeletal disorders in athletes, with specific expertise in the area of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy to tissue regeneration.
Dr. Galea has treated and served as a consultant to numerous international athletes including players in the NFL, NHL and MLB. He is the team doctor for the Toronto Argonauts, and has served as the Chief Medical Officer for Team Canada at the Maccabi Games in Israel and team physician at the Olympic games and World Championship events in a variety of sports. Dr. Galea has served on a number of anti-doping boards in Canada, has lectured extensively on the topic of Sports Medicine and is the author of the book Dr. Galea's Secrets to Optimal Health.
Dr. Jim Rupert, Associate Professor, School of Human Kinetics, University of British Columbia
"Should we bioengineer athletes, and if we shouldn't, who is going to stop us?"
Jim Rupert is an Associate Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at UBC. One of his principal research interests is the application of genetic technology to doping and doping control. He has received funding from the World Anti-doping Agency to investigate the use of gene expression analysis as a strategy to detect blood-doping and has co-authored a number of articles on the science and ethics of "gene doping". He also teaches a fourth year class entitled "Genetic Issues in Sports and Exercise Science", which covers topics ranging from genetic manipulation of athletes to the genetics of sex-testing, and is an Associate Chair on the UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board.
Dr. David Cox, Professor, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver
Dr. David Cox is a clinical psychologist and a professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University. He is also currently the Director of Clinical training for the graduate program in clinical psychology at Simon Fraser. Over the past twenty-five years he has established a reputation as one of Canada's top sport psychologists working with many provincial and national level athletes and teams at events such as the Olympics. For the recent Winter Olympics here in Vancouver he was a member of the Mission Staff Health and Science team and he worked as the psychologist for the Canadian snowboard team.
Cristina Sutter, Sport Dietitian, Vancouver
Cristina Sutter is a Registered Dietitian with ten years of experience providing nutrition and exercise counseling and seminars. She has a Bachelor's degree in kinesiology from Simon Fraser University and worked as a personal trainer before earning her Masters degree in Nutrition at the University of Toronto. As a Sport Dietitian with the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific, Cristina provides nutrition coaching to Canadian Olympic athletes and the Vancouver Canucks. She taught the sport nutrition course at the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Langara College. This unique background allows her to design a complete sport nutrition plan for her clients to achieve their performance goals.