Project Overview
The Differences of Sex Development (DSD) and Transgender Elite Sport (DATES) Study is a research project started in July 2021 tackling one of the most pressing topics in world sport ethics and integrity. The home of study sits at the Applied Sports, Technology, Exercise and Medicine (A-STEM) research centre, Swansea University, but the associated research team represents global diversity, multi-and-interdisciplinarity, including world leading researchers, based at top international academic institutions. The core research team, led by Dr Shane M Heffernan, has vast experience and publications in elite sport, athlete physiology, genetics, inclusion and anti-discrimination in sport, sport integrity, ethics and diversity policy and clinical sexology. Currently, global sporting policies are being developed, adapted, scrapped and rewritten rapidly, yet there has been little peer-reviewed evidence of the opinions of key stakeholders (e.g., athletes) involved in high performance sport or analysis of publicly available data to help shape these policies. This is despite the International Olympic Committee (IOC) calling for both peer-reviewed evidence and stakeholders’ opinions, and the potential significance of this knowledge as these policies have profound impacts on individual athletes, the wider athletic community and the public image of sport. Over the five-years, the DATES Study has recruited athletes and key stakeholders (e.g. sport board members, policy makers, Human Rights Activists, academics and sport lawyers) to produce ethically and respectfully conducted research findings that can help better inform policy development and more robustly developed eligibility criteria as they relate to transgender and DSD athletes. Moreover, members of the DATES team, in collaboration with global colleagues, have contributed to publications reviewing the academic and policy literature, contributed to expert statements, peer-reviewed editorials, legal cases, media engagements and continue to produce reports and support sport governing bodies in policy interpretation and development.
The overarching aim of the DATES project is to objectively and as unbiasedly (as possible) generate peer-reviewed evidence and governing body reports, using the existing literature and data analysis, complemented by key stakeholders’ opinions on the inclusion and eligibility of transgender and DSD individuals in elite sport. The current focus is to provide evidence from current and retired World Class, Elite and National level athlete data, but the project is planned to incorporate recreational sport.
We are currently recruiting athletes and individuals involved in this space (e.g. academics, sport body members, academics and lawyers). If you would like more information about this and potentially completing one of our questionnaires and/or interviews aimed at gaining an insight into participants opinion towards transgender and DSD athletes inclusion in elite sport, get in touch at our study email address (TheDATESStudy@swansea.ac.uk).
To keep up to date with our findings, follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @TheDATESStudy.