Ace swimmer Micheal Phelps joins Australia's Medibio board

Ace American Swimmer and one of the most celebrated athlete in Olympic history, Mr Micheal Phelps has joined the Medibio board. Medibio is an Australian-listed medical technology company that has developed a test for depression.

Medibio recently  announced that the American swimmer, who retired from competition in 2016 with a haul of 28 Olympic medals, is one of its newly appointed directors.

With a market capitalization of $45 million, Medibio’s technology is based on research conducted over 15 years at the University of Western Australia.

The test uses panel circadian, sleep and autonomic system ­biomarkers to objectively quantify and characterise mental illness.

 Mr Phelps joining the board would give the company a huge push into the US mental health management market, which is estimated to be valued at($269bn annually.

Medibio said Phelps, who retired from competitive swimming in 2016 with 28 Olympic medals, used its technology to analyse his own personal data and experienced first-hand how it was uniquely positioned to address the challenges associated with mental health diagnosis.

Mr Phelps said he has used Mediobo's technology - which analyses biomarkers including heart rate, body clock, and autonomic nervous system - to detect and help manage mental health disorders.

"In sports, there is so much focus on the physical aspects of performance and athletes are analyzed from head to toe. But for many athletes, mental health has not been a topic of focus and the data analysis ­aspect of it has been missing up until now," Mr Phelps said.

"I personally suffered from mental health challenges from my teenage years on, and only fairly recently — after reaching a point of desperation — did I acquire the understanding, treatment and support I needed, which has truly changed my life."

Medibio is also conducting clinical trials at Johns Hopkins University of Medicine in the US to support its application to become the first US regulator-­approved, objective and evidence-based diagnosis for mental health disorders.

Jack Cosentino, chief executive of Medibio, said to a leading Australian daily, "Mr Phelps joining the board of directors brought recognition and validated the need for objective mental health diagnosis, which the company ­offered through its technology."

"Michael’s significant public profile will raise substantial awareness of mental health challenges and the real, tangible solutions that Medibio’s diagnostics can provide," he said.