Transgender Athletic Performance.... is there a sporting advantage? With Joanna Harper

At Your Cervix

Welcome back to Season 4 of At Your Cervix the Podcast! We are delighted to bring to you this fascinating discussion with Loughborough University Researcher Joanna Harper about Transgender Athlete Performance. Joanna, originally from a small town north of Toronto is a medical researcher at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom where her research focuses on this very topic. Author of the book, Sporting Gender: The History, Science and Stories of Transgender and Intersex Athletes, she has also authored articles on gender diverse athletes in peer-reviewed scientific publications. Since 2015, Joanna has served as an advisor on transgender and intersex athletes to multiple sporting federations including the International Olympic Committee.

In this episode we discuss what it means to be a transgender athlete, what confusion and questions arise within high performance competition and what the science actually tells us in relation to whether transgender women hold a "sporting advantage".

Joanna's peer reviewed scientific publications include:

Pitsiladis Y, Harper J, Betancurt JO, Martinez-Patino MJ, Parisi A, Wang G, Pigozzi F. Beyond Fairness: The Biology of Inclusion for Transgender and Intersex Athletes. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2016 Nov/Dec;15(6):386-388. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000314. PMID: 27841808.

Harper J, Lima G, Kolliari-Turner A, Malinsky FR, Wang G, Martinez-Patino MJ, Angadi SS, Papadopoulou T, Pigozzi F, Seal L, Barrett J, Pitsiladis YP. The Fluidity of Gender and Implications for the Biology of Inclusion for Transgender and Intersex Athletes. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2018 Dec;17(12):467-472. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000543. PMID: 30531465.

Harper J, Martinez-Patino MJ, Pigozzi F, Pitsiladis Y. Implications of a Third Gender for Elite Sports. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2018 Feb;17(2):42-44. doi: 10.1249/JSR.0000000000000455. PMID: 29420345.

Harper J, O'Donnell E, Sorouri Khorashad B, McDermott H, Witcomb GL. How does hormone transition in transgender women change body composition, muscle strength and haemoglobin? Systematic review with a focus on the implications for sport participation. Br J Sports Med. 2021 Aug;55(15):865-872. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-103106. Epub 2021 Mar 1. PMID: 33648944; PMCID: PMC8311086.

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