Science & Innovation
Leading the Study of Peak Performance
In 1965, a team of doctors and researchers at the University of Florida—Dr. Robert Cade, Dr. Dana Shires, Dr. H. James Free, and Dr. Alejandro de Quesada—developed an optimal sports hydration beverage in order to help the University’s football players perform at their best. The doctors called their concoction—a precise formula of fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrates that could be absorbed faster than water—“Gatorade” in honor of the team mascot.
More than four decades later, the doctors’ legacy lives on at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, a world-renowned hydration and nutrition science research and education center dedicated to helping athletes from every sport safeguard their health and improve their overall performance.