Title: The Development of Direct Alcohol Bio-Markers and Chromatographic Separations
Abstract: Direct alcohol bio-markers, compounds that incorporate ethanol into other biological entities, have become valuable players in the determination of past alcohol exposure due to their longer biological half-lives in the human body. The identification and quantitation of two of these molecules, Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) and Phosphtidylethanol (PEth) are interesting stories of the use of various chromatographic techniques that were employed and ultimately lead to the validation of the use of these markers. As a result, today’s short term (3 day), mid term (3 week), and long term (3 month) interpretational windows are available both to clinicians and to forensic practitioners. The use of chromatographic techniques will be discussed in the history of the development of these modern markers.
Bio: Douglas Lewis, President and Scientific Director
Douglas Lewis is the founder, president and scientific director of United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. (USDTL) where he oversees development of new matrices for use in diagnosing substances of abuse, such as: umbilical cord tissue used to determine substance exposure in newborns, and fingernails to determine alcohol biomarkers and substances of abuse.
Lewis’s research record includes co-principal investigator on a $6.57 million NIDA funded grant entitled “Prenatal Methamphetamine Exposure and Child Outcome,” co-investigator on three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grants—“Diagnostic Viability of Umbilical Cord Specimens,” “Using Human Hair to Determine Long Term Alcohol Abuse” and “Hair Ethyl Glucuronide as a Long-Term Alcohol Biomarker”—and co-investigator on an SBIR Phase II grant “Diagnostic Viability of Umbilical Cord Specimens“.
Prior to USDTL, he spent five years in academia as an assistant professor of clinical pathology at Northwestern University Medical School while also serving as the head of the toxicology section at the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. During his tenure at Northwestern and Children’s, Lewis established the first non-Olympic anabolic steroids testing laboratory in the United States and was a toxicologist for the U.S. Weight Lifting Federation.
LC School Reviews
“I now have a better understanding of how HPLC works and why column choice is so important.”
“It is a fantastic course for learning the theory of LC and method development”
“The instructor, Merlin Bicking, is very helpful. It was great to see how wiling he is to answer questions and all the variety of methods he worked on.”
“I am just beginning my position from out of school. I found the course very insightful in terms of preparation for my future career”
“It is very useful for me because having hands on experience, which helped me to understand more of HPLC.”
“Great class. Would easily take again and recommend Dr. Merlin anytime. Would love to take his other courses. If he had a book would quickly buy for reference.”
Douglas Lewis
Douglas Lewis, D.Sc., President, United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc., Des Plaines, IL
View Presentation.
Title: The Development of Direct Alcohol Bio-Markers and Chromatographic Separations
Abstract: Direct alcohol bio-markers, compounds that incorporate ethanol into other biological entities, have become valuable players in the determination of past alcohol exposure due to their longer biological half-lives in the human body. The identification and quantitation of two of these molecules, Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) and Phosphtidylethanol (PEth) are interesting stories of the use of various chromatographic techniques that were employed and ultimately lead to the validation of the use of these markers. As a result, today’s short term (3 day), mid term (3 week), and long term (3 month) interpretational windows are available both to clinicians and to forensic practitioners. The use of chromatographic techniques will be discussed in the history of the development of these modern markers.
Bio: Douglas Lewis, President and Scientific Director
Douglas Lewis is the founder, president and scientific director of United States Drug Testing Laboratories, Inc. (USDTL) where he oversees development of new matrices for use in diagnosing substances of abuse, such as: umbilical cord tissue used to determine substance exposure in newborns, and fingernails to determine alcohol biomarkers and substances of abuse.
Lewis’s research record includes co-principal investigator on a $6.57 million NIDA funded grant entitled “Prenatal Methamphetamine Exposure and Child Outcome,” co-investigator on three Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grants—“Diagnostic Viability of Umbilical Cord Specimens,” “Using Human Hair to Determine Long Term Alcohol Abuse” and “Hair Ethyl Glucuronide as a Long-Term Alcohol Biomarker”—and co-investigator on an SBIR Phase II grant “Diagnostic Viability of Umbilical Cord Specimens“.
Prior to USDTL, he spent five years in academia as an assistant professor of clinical pathology at Northwestern University Medical School while also serving as the head of the toxicology section at the Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. During his tenure at Northwestern and Children’s, Lewis established the first non-Olympic anabolic steroids testing laboratory in the United States and was a toxicologist for the U.S. Weight Lifting Federation.
LC School Reviews
“I now have a better understanding of how HPLC works and why column choice is so important.”
“It is a fantastic course for learning the theory of LC and method development”
“The instructor, Merlin Bicking, is very helpful. It was great to see how wiling he is to answer questions and all the variety of methods he worked on.”
“I am just beginning my position from out of school. I found the course very insightful in terms of preparation for my future career”
“It is very useful for me because having hands on experience, which helped me to understand more of HPLC.”
“Great class. Would easily take again and recommend Dr. Merlin anytime. Would love to take his other courses. If he had a book would quickly buy for reference.”