The Interplay of Genetics, Biological Age, and Muscle Fiber Characteristics in Talent Development and Athletic Performance: “A Twin Study” – Project “TWINSWINS”
The lecture will present the Croatian-Slovenian bilateral multidisciplinary project ”The Role of Genetics, Biological Age, and Muscle Fiber Characteristics in Talent Development and Sports Performance: A Twin Study” (TWINSWINS). Project is focused on exploring how genetic, biological, and environmental factors influence the development of sports talents. Including multidisciplinary experts from kinesiology, biomedicine, biotechnology, and sociology, the project utilizes non-invasive modern technologies to analyze young Croatian & Slovenian athletes, including a sample of monozygotic/dizygotic twins and their parents. The goal is to enhance diagnostic tools to enable more precise monitoring and development of young athletes. The results of the project are expected to improve the identification and development of young athletes, providing a better understanding of the Relative Age Effect (RAE), biological age and genetic predispositions for its end-users such as athletes, parents, coaches, sports academies, clubs, national sports associations, educational institutions, and sports professionals.
Short professional biography (CV)
Tea Gutović, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at Department of Sociology of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split. She is the Head of the Center for Career Planning and Development at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split, and a member of the research team of the Croatian Science Foundation project IP-2024-05-8340 The role of genetics, biological age and muscle fiber characteristics in talent development and sports performance: “Twin Study”. She has published over 25 scientific papers in the field of sociology, specifically sociology of sport, youth, entrepreneurship, work, education and music and she participated in several scientific conferences and competitive projects. She also holds a Bachelor degree in Kinesiology from the Faculty of Kinesiology University of Split. She is an EU Erasmus + projects’ evaluator. She is the recipient of the annual Excellence Award of the Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations Research Network (Common Ground, University of Illinois Research Park, USA) for 2025. She was awarded the award of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split for excellence in scientific research work for scientists under 36 years of age in the academic year 2023/2024. She is a team member of University of Split that won PROFFORMANCE Award International Higher Education Teacher Award 2024. And 1st place for National Excellence Prize „Best of Croatia“ 2024.
Link to personal website or scientific profile