events

Thomas Zandonai will participate as an invited speaker at the European Conference on Tobacco or Health (ECToH 2026), to be held in Milan on May 20–21, 2026. His keynote, titled "Sport and Tobacco-Free Promotion", will explore the complex and often underestimated relationship between sport and nicotine use. The talk will address nicotine prevalence data from anti-doping surveillance, the neurophysiological effects of different nicotine delivery routes (snus, transdermal patches, gum), and the persistent discrepancy between measurable physiological changes and actual performance outcomes in athletes. The presentation will also discuss the implications for regulatory bodies, sports practitioners, and researchers working at the intersection of addiction science and sports pharmacology.

Thomas will participate as an invited speaker at ConversAzioni – Dialogues on Sport, Science, Health and Society, an event organised by the MUSE (Museum of Sciences) in Trento, on Saturday 7 March 2026 at 5:30 PM. His talk will address the theme: "Sport and Self-Image". Thomas will explore the relationship between body, identity and pressure in elite sport, examining how the normalisation of problematic practices and the logic of the body as a performance tool give rise to risks such as doping. He will highlight the risk and protective factors at play, the systemic failure that occurs when sport abandons athletes in moments of vulnerability, and the need for structural prevention, ongoing psychological support, and role models that place integrity above performance.