Episode 340

What Saliva Testing Can Tell Us About Athletes

October 5th, 2026

21 mins 14 secs

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marlon millard richard graves science for sport biolyz saliva testing salivary biomarkers biomarker testing athlete monitoring sports science elite sport athlete health individual baselines cortisol recovery monitoring training load illness monitoring performance data football performance injury risk

About this Episode

What can a saliva sample tell a performance team that a blood test taken a few times a season might miss?

This week, Richard Graves is joined by Marlon Millard, chemist and founder of Biolyz, to discuss how frequent biomarker testing could help teams understand what is normal for each athlete, and spot changes that deserve a closer look.

Marlon explains what saliva can and cannot reveal, why a cortisol reading needs context, and how testing trends may be more useful than reacting to a single result. They also discuss the practical challenge of turning large amounts of biochemical data into information that medical and performance staff can use alongside training load, wellness and performance measures.

The conversation looks ahead to whether these data could eventually help teams anticipate illness, poor recovery or injury risk, while being clear that reliable prediction still requires more evidence.

In this episode you will learn

  • Why Marlon moved from chemistry and endocrinology into athlete testing
  • Where saliva testing can add to, or differ from, blood testing
  • How frequent testing helps establish an athlete’s individual baseline
  • Why cortisol alone cannot explain the cause of a change
  • How training load and other data help make sense of biomarker results
  • Why one unusual reading should not trigger an immediate response
  • What is needed before biomarker data can support reliable predictions

About Marlon Millard

Marlon Millard is a chemist and the founder and CEO of Biolyz, a company developing saliva based biomarker testing. His background includes experimental endocrinology and non-invasive testing, followed by medicinal chemistry. He now works on applying frequent, multi-biomarker testing in elite sport.

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