The Alessandro Bertinaria Regional Anti-Doping Centre
The regional anti-doping centre established in 2004 to meet the needs of Torino 2006 continues to deliver anti-doping services, as well as contributing to a broader scope of scientific research.
A total of 1,219 anti-doping tests were carried out at the Alessandro Bertinaria Regional Anti-Doping Centre during the Olympic Winter Games Torino 2006 – a record at the time. As well as urine tests, blood-sample analysis was conducted for the first time in Olympic Games history.
The centre was established in 2004 to meet the needs of Torino 2006. It was founded via a consortium of four public bodies: the Piedmont region, the University of Studies of Turin, the Institute of Sports Medicine, and AOU San Luigi Gonzaga University Hospital.
Post-Games, the centre conducts research in three key areas. The first of these is developing and updating methods and procedures to diagnose the taking or administering of doping substances. It also includes performing routine testing of samples collected according to appropriate anti-doping programmes or regulations.
The second area of research places the centre as a regional observatory. It systematically collects information to record trends in doping and the improper and illegal use of drugs due to the risks to public health and the social consequences that they entail.
Thirdly, it provides services for conceiving, designing and executing health programmes in the Piedmont region.
Beyond these activities, and as reported in 2018, the laboratory contributes to a broader scope of scientific research. It offers testing research in areas such as personal and ethnic identification from unknown genetic profiles and conducts investigations into the biological profiles of people involved in crimes of sexual violence.