Stanley Out as UK Lab Director; Testing Goes Elsewhere

Dr. Scott Stanley, who led the University of Kentucky's Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory since 2019, has been "removed" from his position. He said March 4 that his final day was last week. Stanley was named the lab's director in 2018 after nearly 30 years at the Kenneth L. Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory at the University of California-Davis. He said he could not discuss the reasons behind his departure from the lab, citing a confidentiality agreement with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit. The lab handled testing for HIWU. In a statement to BloodHorse, HISA and HIWU said they were informed by the university that Stanley had been "removed from his position" as director of the UK lab. A representative of HISA/HIWU also said that while all agreements between laboratories, HISA, and HIWU include a confidentiality component, the decision to remove Dr. Stanley from his position was unrelated to that confidentiality agreement and made by the University of Kentucky. HIWU stopped sending samples to the laboratory as of Feb. 16, and samples that "would have been sent there previously are now directed to Industrial Laboratories," according to the agencies. HISA and HIWU in their statement added that analyses of samples that were sent to the lab for testing under the Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program "are complete, and all such results have been reported to HIWU." In addition to the aforementioned Industrial Laboratories, HIWU uses four other labs for testing: Analytical Toxicology Laboratory, which is part of the Ohio Department of Agriculture; the Animal Forensic Toxicology Laboratory at the University of Illinois-Chicago; the Maddy Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory; and the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory. Stanley said that the Kentucky lab would continue its mission without him. However, when asked whether the lab would resume testing samples once a new director was in place, HISA and HIWU said they are "continually evaluating the status of the UK lab and will engage accordingly based on the best interests of the ADMC." The University of Kentucky lab's sophisticated technology allows it to test urine, blood, and hair samples as well as identify blood doping, micro-dosing of performance-enhancing substances, and selective androgen receptor modulators. Originally launched as an in-house lab by the United States Equestrian Federation, the lab can develop testing for new substances within hours. It can also go back to previous test results to see if the problematic substance was being used before it was identified. In 2020, the Commonwealth of Kentucky dedicated $1.5 million in its budget from the Kentucky Equine Drug Research Council toward the lab, which is under the purview of UK's College of Agriculture. The lab also received a $1.3 million commitment in 2019 from Keeneland Association, among other donations. Stanley will remain at UK, where he earned his PhD. He will focus on research at the Gluck Equine Research Center, where he has a separate research lab. The Gluck Center operates separately from the Equine Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. "I'm going to be working at the university focusing on the biological passport effort as well as proteomics determinations as an anti-doping tool for future use in horses," he said. In its own statement issued March 5, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton in an email wrote that while Stanley is no longer the director of the lab, he remains part of the faculty. "This reassignment positions him to expand the scope of his research program and focus on industry priorities. We are moving quickly to name an interim director as part of our commitment to the important work conducted at the lab. During this interim period, we have taken the appropriate steps to refer samples to other equipped laboratories for a complete analysis. We will, in the near future, announce plans for how we will search for a permanent director," Blanton wrote. As for collaborating with HISA and HIWU in the future, it's not something Stanley has ruled out. "I currently don't have a direct plan to do that, but that's certainly a possibility," he said.