26
March 2018

LGC expert elected President of the Association of Official Racing Chemists

Dr Clive Pearce, Director of Sport & Specialised Analytical Services, Standards, LGC has taken up the office of President of the Association of Official Racing Chemists (AORC)
 
The AORC is an international organisation with over 200 members worldwide which represents analytical chemists working to support medication and doping control in regulated animal sports, such as horseracing, greyhound racing and equestrian competition. 
 
Clive has been President Elect for the past year and took office as President at the recent International Conference of Racing Chemists and Veterinarians (ICRAV), which took place in Dubai on 3-10 March.
 
Clive said: “In my time as president of the AORC, my brief will be to represent the interests of the organisation and to promote international collaboration between racing laboratories and partnerships with animal sports regulators.  The harmonisation of approaches used in medication and doping control is vital to the integrity of animal sports and the welfare of the animal athletes.”
 
Clive joined HFL (previously known as the Horseracing Forensic Laboratory) in 2001, after working in the agrochemical industry for many years, as a synthetic organic chemist and analytical chemist.  In HFL’s Research & Development department, he was responsible for delivering research projects concerned with investigating new drug threats considered harmful to the integrity of animal sports competition or the welfare of animal athletes.  Clive took responsibility for both research and drug testing services in 2007 and these responsibilities continued after HFL was acquired by LGC in 2010. 
 
As Director of Sport & Specialised Analytical Services, Clive’s responsibilities now encompass the drug detection associated with regulated animal sports, dietary supplements and feeds, and specialised human workplace testing in LGC’s laboratories in both the UK (Fordham) and the US (Lexington).
 
As a ‘racing chemist’ and Laboratory Director, Clive is active in major international organisations associated with the regulation of animal sports.  Aside from the AORC, he is a board member of the European Horserace Scientific Liaison Committee (EHSLC), a member the International Equestrian Federation’s (FEI) Laboratory and Prohibited List Groups, and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) Reference Laboratory Technical Committee.