2015-01-14: Dinner Meeting with Prof. Anthony Butch at Billingsley’s

Abstract: The use of prohibited substances to gain a competitive edge in sporting events has been around forever and was practiced by ancient Greek athletes and Roman gladiators around the third century B.C. This practice continued over time and became problematic during modern Olympic Games held in the 20th century. Drug testing was introduced at the Olympic Games in 1968 but it had little impact on the practice of doping because the testing methods had poor analytical sensitivity and were unable to detect many of the doping agents that were being used. Analytical methods to detect doping have greatly improved over the last decade or so and drug testing laboratories are held to extremely high standards that are mandated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accreditation program. Anti-doping laboratories face a huge task developing and validating tests to detect new performance enhancing drugs as they emerge onto the black market. This presentation will provide an inside view into the operations of the largest WADA-accredited laboratory in the world. An overview of WADA anti-doping rules and the prohibited list will be provided, along with details regarding the urine collection process and chain of custody documentation. Information regarding sample pretreatment, testing methods and data analysis will be discussed, as well as WADA mandatory testing requirements and the external quality assessment program. Documentation supporting an adverse analytical finding during legal proceedings will be discussed and the ‘now and then’ of sports doping will be provided.

Biography: Anthony W. Butch, Ph.D., DABCC, FACB, MT(ASCP), is Professor of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine in the Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is Chief of the Clinical Chemistry & Toxicology sections of the clinical laboratories at the UCLA Health System. He is also director of the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory that tests Olympic athletes and athletes at the high school, college and professional level for prohibited performance enhancing substances. Dr. Butch received his BS in Medical Technology from Wayne State University, his MS and PhD in Immunology from Wayne State University, and subsequent post-doctoral training in Clinical Chemistry and Immunology at Washington University. Dr. Butch joined the UCLA faculty in 1999 and has been an active member of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry and the World Association of Anti-Doping Scientists for many years. He has published more than 100 scientific articles, reviews, book chapters and case reports, serves on two editorial boards, and is an ad hoc reviewer for numerous journals.

Reservations: There is a choice of Sliced Sirloin, Four Garlic Lime Shrimp over rice, Chicken Marsala or Rainbow Trout for dinner (make your choice at the restaurant). The cost is $32 including tax, tip and wine with dinner, cash or check at the door. Please call Nancy Paradiso in the Section Office at 310 327-1216 or email office@scalacs.org by Monday, January 12th. Note: Please honor your reservation. If you make a reservation and do not attend, you may be liable for the cost of the dinner.

Directions: Billingsley’s is located at 11326 West Pico Blvd. L.A., CA 90064 west of the 405 Freeway. You can get directions from their website:
http://www.billingsleysteakhouse.com/#!location/c14xr. There is complimentary valet parking onsite (tip appreciated).