USADA Names Larry Bowers Senior Managing Director
The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), a newly formed organization tasked with testing Olympic and elite athletes for illegal performance enhancing drugs, announced that Larry D. Bowers, Ph.D., DABCC, has joined the staff as the senior managing director of technical and information resources. Bowers, internationally known for directing drug testing laboratories at major athletic competitions, including the Olympics and the Pan American Games, officially starts with the USADA on September 1, 2000.
‘Larry’s reputation and experience in the field of athletic drug testing and education is second to none,’ said Frank Shorter, chairman of USADA. ‘We are extremely pleased that he is joining our staff, and we’re excited about the future of our organization.’
As the senior managing director, Bowers will be responsible for leading the research efforts into prohibited substances, including detection. He will direct the development of an anti-doping educational program for America’s youth in sport, as well as the resources for technical and educational anti-doping information for Olympic and elite athletes in the United States. He will also oversee the drug testing program for USADA.
‘I am excited about working with the athletes, the National Governing Bodies, and other national and international sports organizations, in the effort to eliminate drugs in sport. I believe USADA has a unique window of opportunity to make a difference for athletes at all levels,’ Bowers said.
Bowers has spent his career in the medical field, specializing in chemistry and directing drug testing laboratories. He was with Indiana University for the past eight years as director of the Athletic Drug Testing and Toxicology Laboratory, and was a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, as well as in the Department of Chemistry at the Purdue University School of Science.
Bowers is an associate editor of Clinical Chemistry, chair of the Subcommittee on GC/MS Standards for the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards, and has served as an expert on the doping control review panels for FINA and IAAF. He currently serves as consultant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Medical Devices Advisory Committee, and was deputy director of the Athletic Drug Testing Laboratory for the XXV Olympic Games (1996).
He has published more than 100 papers on drug testing and chemistry and, in the past five years, made presentations at more than 35 conferences and scientific meetings. He earned a B. A. in Chemistry from Franklin and Marshall College in 1972, completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Georgia in 1975, and finished a postdoctoral study at the University of Oregon Health Sciences Center in 1977.
United States Anti-Doping Agency
USADA was created as the result of recommendations set forth by the United States Olympic Committee’s Select Task Force on Externalization and will be operational October 1, 2000. In addition to assuming responsibility for drug testing, USADA is also responsible for anti-doping research, the adjudication process, and education at the elite and grassroots levels.
The agency’s board of directors has committed $2 million annually for research projects on the detection and abuse of prohibited substances and methods of doping. In addition, USADA will be the adjudicator of positive tests under a CAS/AAA hearing process.
Source: USADA