This Project Grant award from the Department of Health and Human Services' National Institute on Drug Abuse (CFDA 93.279 - Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs) provides $306,872 to Xcellassay, Inc. to validate a novel measurement platform for detecting the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), particularly among youth athletes. The project aims to demonstrate the reliability of the company's ICR/AR bioassay ratio in blood samples for identifying individuals receiving supplemental androgen doping, in comparison to established urine-based doping detection protocols. The Phase I research will study the normal age- and gender-specific variations in the ICR/AR bioassay ratio, as well as whether clinical testosterone supplementation reduces this ratio below the normal range. If successful, a Phase II effort would develop a final collection kit and broadly compare the ICR/AR bioassay to current doping detection methods using blood and urine samples from random athletes. The goal is to establish the ICR/AR bioassay as a reliable, cost-effective, and privacy-preserving alternative for detecting AAS doping, particularly among unmonitored youth athletes.
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