My aspiration early in life was to be a high school physical education teacher and coach. I achieved neither. Instead, I earned a PhD from The Ohio State University in exercise physiology and became a university professor. Although my intent was to start and finish my career in academia, after eight years of university life, I accepted an opportunity to join The Quaker Oats Company to create an internal exercise-science research laboratory to support their Gatorade™ business, a job I assumed would last no more than five years. After 23 years as director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, I left PepsiCo (PepsiCo acquired Quaker in 2001) to start my own business, Sports Science Insights, LLC. Through SSI, I'm able to apply my expertise in science and communications, my experience in academia and the corporate world, and my wide network of contacts to help companies and organizations achieve their science-related goals.				CONTACT Bob Murray, Ph.D, FACSM Managing Principal Sports Science Insights, LLC 1213 Autumn Ridge Court Crystal Lake, IL 60014 bob@sportsscienceinsights.com

					How SSI helps clients leverage science to meet business goals.
					Our goal is to complement what our clients are trying to accomplish and we work hard to ensure we provide added value. Too often, consultants do little more than repackage what they learn from company staff. We recognize that companies have internal expertise that we do not want to duplicate. We complement that expertise to help clients make evidence-based decisions in which they can place great confidence. Examples: >> A private equity firm interested in investing in another business was unsure about the scientific validity of the product promise. SSI provided an evidence-based assessment to complement the company's internal evaluation efforts. Based in part on guidance from SSI, a successful investment was made. >> SSI worked closely with a two-person start-up to evaluate the strengths and vulnerabilities of their beverage product formula and related benefit claims, providing the scientific guidance used to refine the formulation and reword the benefit claims prior to a successful launch.		>> A Fortune 100 company was concerned that benefit-driven advertising claims made by competitors were giving their competitors an edge with consumers. SSI conducted a comprehensive review of the underlying science to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats associated with the competitive claims. Based on SSI's analysis and related efforts, the company was able to force its competitors to withdraw or reword the egregious claims. >> A craft brewery desired to brew its most thirst-quenching beer and looked to SSI to provide scientific guidance concerning the ingredient types and levels required to achieve that goal. The result turned into the company's most successful new-product introduction. >> SSI helped a large company refine its thinking and plans for the creation of a brand-related scientific institute tasked with providing cutting-edge guidance to support the company's policies, products, and services. The institute was successfully launched and is functioning to achieve the internal and external missions for which it was designed.