Yannis Pitsiladis

Head and Professor of Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University

Speaker Bio

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has an established history of research into the importance of lifestyle and genetics for human health and performance. Current research priority is the application of “omics” (i.e. genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics) to the detection of drugs in sport with particular reference to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo), blood doping and testosterone.


His most recent research is funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he is 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), a member 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), past member a WADA’s List Expert Group and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).


He has published over 250 scientific papers, written and edited a number of books and has featured in numerous documentaries (e.g. “Kipchoge: The Last Milestone” is a 2021 documentary film directed by Jake Scott and executive produced by Ridley Scott; “Enhanced” – Documentary Film, 2018. Produced by award winning director Alex Gibney) and popular books (e.g. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance; Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice).