Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Utah Accredited

Document Sample
scope of work template
							                                     Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory
                                     in Utah Accredited by World Anti-Doping Agency
                                     SALT LAKE CITY— November 30, 2006
                                     The Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL),
                                     located at the University of Utah, has joined an elite group of
                                     laboratories worldwide accredited to test Olympic, Paralympic,
                                     and other amateur and professional athletes for performance-
                                     enhancing and other prohibited drugs.
Board of Directors

Ralph W. Hale, MD                    SMRTL received accreditation November 1, 2006 from the World
Chair                                Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), making it one of two laboratories in
                                     the United States qualified to perform this complex and exacting
Richard W. Cohen, MD                 analytical science. The other facility is at University of California,
Vice Chair                           Los Angeles (UCLA). SMRTL was co-founded by the National
                                     Football League (NFL) and the United States Anti-Doping Agency
Barry Axelrod
                                     (USADA), with significant financial and operational support from
Treasurer
                                     the University of Utah and the United States Olympic Committee
Kate Hendrickson Borg, CHMM          (USOC).
Secretary
                                     The University of Utah was selected in December 2003 as the
Evelyn Ashford                       site for the development of the laboratory. Shortly thereafter, the
                                     United States Olympic Committee provided a $500,000 start-up
Lawrence Brown, Jr., MD, MPH
                                     grant to help create the lab.
Jean Fourcroy, MD, PhD, MPH
                                     The formal accreditation process is lengthy and thorough. It
Andrew Mecca, Dr PH, MPH             involved on-site inspections, compliance with technical
                                     requirements, and the successful analysis of samples that
Annette Salmeen, DPhil               contained drugs and metabolites to determine the competency of
                                     the laboratory.

                                     “There are only 34 WADA-accredited labs in the world,” said
                                     Dennis J. Crouch, SMRTL laboratory director and University of
                                     Utah research associate professor in the College of Pharmacy’s
                                     Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. “It is an honor for
                                     us to be among the ranks of such an elite group and to be playing
                                     a role in ensuring fair competition as well as protecting the health
                                     of athletes.”

                                     The testing of U.S. Olympic, Paralympic, NFL and other athletes
                                     will now be distributed between SMRTL and UCLA, adding
                                     flexibility and capacity to the country’s anti-doping efforts.
                                                                    - - more - -
                                          United States Anti-Doping Agency
                              1330 Quail Lake Loop, Suite 260, Colorado Springs, CO 80906
                                        Tel: 719.785.2000 ■ Fax: 719.785.2001
                                   usada@usantidoping.org ■ www.usantidoping.org
 “Earning accreditation as a World Anti-Doping Agency laboratory is a rigorous and exacting
process,” said U.S. Anti-Doping Agency Senior Managing Director Dr. Larry D. Bowers.
“We congratulate Dennis Crouch, Doug Rollins and the staff at the Sports Medicine
Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City for achieving the level of excellence
required to merit this distinction. It is a great benefit to USADA to have the scientific
expertise of two accredited laboratories at UCLA and the University of Utah."

The NFL began using SMRTL in 2005 to screen players for performance-enhancing drugs.
The NFL does not require WADA accreditation but demands equivalent expertise by the
laboratories it uses in support of its drug control and prevention programs.

“The establishment of this laboratory is a major step forward in the NFL’s ability to monitor
and detect the use of performance-enhancing drugs in its athletes,” said Dr. Bryan Finkle,
forensic toxicologist to the NFL’s programs and President and Chairman of the Board of the
new laboratory. “It enhances the commitment the league has made to address drug misuse
and provides more opportunity for research critical to understanding the medical and
analytical toxicology issues.”

“As we look for ways to intensify our efforts in the fight against doping in sport, having
greater capacity to reliably analyze tests and conduct research is critical,” said U.S. Olympic
Committee Director of Sports Medicine Ed Ryan. “We are proud to have contributed to the
creation of this lab and believe that it will be an important resource in preserving the health
and well-being of athletes and the integrity of sport.”

Drug detection is only part of SMRTL’s mission. The lab also will conduct research into
substances that might be used in the future. In today’s environment, the use of substances
that modify the body’s own biochemistry and mimic natural hormones makes detection a
complex challenge. According to Crouch, the new laboratory will serve as an additional
deterrent to underground sports medicine laboratories.

                                            ###

Contacts:

Carla O’Connell, publications and communications director, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, (719)
785-2009, coconnell@usantidoping.org

Greg Aiello, vice president of public relations, National Football League, (212) 450-2067,
aiellog@nfl.com

Chantelle Turner, University of Utah Health Sciences Public Affairs, (801) 581-7387,
chantelle.turner@hsc.utah.edu

Darryl Seibel, United States Olympic Committee Communications, (719) 866-4529,
darryl.seibel@usoc.org

						
Related docs