Chair's Message Archive - 2024

March 2024 - UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory Updates

The UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory (OAL) is one of the world’s largest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited sports drug-testing facilities. As one of the leading institutions in the field of athletic antidoping, OAL is one of two laboratories in the U.S. accredited by WADA. The laboratory analyzes an estimated 40,000 urine specimens per year for traces of banned substances intended to give athletes an unfair edge in competition. The lab performs drug testing for national and international sports organizations, including the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and has provided testing services for major sporting events such as the 1994 World Soccer Cup and three Olympic Games.

UCLA OAL has been a leader in research activities directed towards enhancing methods to detect doping in sports. UCLA OAL has contributed to the findings of techniques and substances that currently influence the fight against doping in sports:

• In 1990 UCLA OAL and others conducted research that resulted in the development of a gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) method to detect exogenous testosterone administration. Adaptations of this technique are currently utilized to detect a variety of steroids in urine specimens.
• In 2000 the laboratory identified trace-contamination of an over-the-counter supplement with an anabolic steroid and demonstrated the amount present could result in positive urine test results.
• In 2002 the laboratory identified norbolethone, a steroid that had never been marketed, in an athlete’s urine.
• In 2004 the laboratory published its findings regarding the isolation of tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), a steroid previously unknown in literature.
• In 2009 the laboratory became one of the first among WADA-laboratories to transition to high-throughput testing utilizing 96-well plate format demonstrating that such an approach remained both robust and highly-sensitive.
• In 2018 the laboratory published findings on low-dose ethanol administration effect on the urinary testosterone to epitestosterone ratio by GC-MS/MS as well as urine reference intervals for human chorionic gonadotrophin utilizing a LC-MS/MS based approach.
• In 2019 the laboratory published it findings on the urinary concentration of the AMPK-activator AICAR in an athlete population as well as the utility of isotopically labeled boldenone as a quality control marker for efficiency of chemical derivative formation.
• In 2021 the laboratory published methodology allowing assessment of urinary cobalt by LC-MS/MS technology available in house to all WADA-accredited laboratories where previously such analysis required ICP-MS.
• In 2023 the laboratory published its findings concerning first time detection of the unapproved selective androgen receptor modulator YK-11 in an athlete’s urine.

Back row (left to right): Elise Parsaee, Yan Xu, Ronald Gonzalez, Brian Ahrens, Francis Regacho, Samantha Adams, Mustafa Cittan, Nurali Avliyakulov, Brian Bishop, Timofei Sobolevskii

Front row (left to right): Shirley Taam, Monika Abeywardena, Yulia Kucherova, Fereshteh Delshad, Dr. Dry, Roya Kashanpour, Christina Zaragoza, Tatiana Sergeeva, Lorna Reyes, Maria Gomez

February 2024 - Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Service Updates

The Advanced Molecular Diagnostics Service (AMDS) has been continuously working on upgrading and streamlining our current clinical genomic and cancer genomic offerings to support integrated clinical care for the UCLA Health System, and to identify, support, and advance UCLA translational research into clinical use and technology transfer.

NEW BRAF TEST PLATFORM

The new BRAF V600 mutation assessment Idylla test platform has completed validation and will be launched in Q1 of 2024.

• Fully automated real-time PCR based molecular testing
• Simplified workflow with < 10 min hands on set up time
• Rapid turnaround time (1 day from sample receiving)
• Flexible sample type (FFPE slides or extracted DNA)
• Effective on limited tissue amount (as low as 1-2 FFPE slides)
• As low as 0.5-1% limit of detection variant frequency

NEW CLINICAL EXOME SEQUENCING

The improved workflow will be streamlined for sample preparation and data analysis. The new workflow will be launched in Q1 2024.

• Improved turnaround time by 3 days
• Significant improvement in accuracy for complex variants and insertions/deletions
• Improved sensitivity for SNP variants
• More robust variant interpretation
• Increased exome coverage uniformity
• Reduced cost to achieve minimal sequencing depth

SOLID TUMOR PAN-CANCER AND FUSION PANEL TESTS (LAUNCHED DECEMBER 2022)

• Optimized workflow that when the Idylla single gene test is ordered with the Pan-Cancer Panel test, no additional tissue slides are needed
• Lowered the number of tissue slides needed for the Solid Tumor Fusion Panel test from 10 to 5 slides
• Improved the overall turnaround time
• Low QNS rate: 3.1% for Fusion Panel Test and 5.7% for Pan-Cancer Panel Test

OUTGOING CHIEF RESIDENTS

MLK DAY OF SERVICE – "MINI PATHOLOGIST'S PLAY LAB"

As part of the inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service | I Have a Dream in STEM Conference, hosted in partnership with the DGSOM JEDI Office and the Department of Medicine’s Community Engagement Office, our Department hosted a Mini Pathologist's Playlab (MPP) workshop for elementary-aged learners from the Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) and I Have A Dream Foundation. The MPP consisted of six interactive stations spanning anatomic and clinical pathology, allowing learners to interact with Microscopes and slides, Organ Blocks, Agar Plates, Parasites, replica Blood and Plasma, and even a replica Urine Station!

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers who arranged this event on limited notice! Your altruism and commitment to education and our community are evident in the event's great success! A special thank you to Dr. Chana Sachs, Dr. Weibo Yu, Dr. Mario Pulido, Dr. Erica Fermon, Dr. Chao Chen, Dr. Danny Rodriguez, Dr. Yuna Kang, Dr. David Lu, Dr. Dawn Ward, Toshi Ching, Monique Trinh, Jessica Martinez, and the Pathology Facilities team!