what we do for animal research at ASU

The ASU Animal Use Program

A three-legged stool

Institutional Official- Jon Harrison

Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee

Chair – Dale DeNardo

Attending Veterinarian

(& DACT Director)- Joanne Tetens

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

The IACUC provides internal oversight of animals used in research & teaching:

- animal use procedures

- husbandry

- facilities

The ASU IACUC consists of 11 voting members plus other supporting participants who include:

- faculty representing the various departments and uses of animals

- representatives of relevant ASU service units- DACT (including the Attending Vet)- Environmental Health & Safety- Campus Health- Risk Management- Office of Knowledge Enterprise

Development Office

- non-affiliated member

http://researchintegrity.asu.edu/animals/IACUC+Overview

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Web site includes:- IACUC Policies and Procedures Manual - IACUC forms- protocol due dates & meeting dates- IACUC training instructions and exams- IACUC Standard Institutional Guidelines- AVMA euthanasia guidelines- professional society non-traditional species recommendations- federal regulations and other policies- Animal Welfare Assurance & USDA certificate numbers- Occupational Health & Safety Program documents- DACT forms & housing per diem rates- etc.

Primary objective - oversight

To assure that ASU meets all regulatory requirements

- USDA – enforces the Animal Welfare Act. Definition of “animal”?

- OLAW (Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare) – oversees the use of non-human vertebrates in PHS-supported research or included in the institution’s PHS assurance (PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 2002)

- AAALACi (Association for the Assessment & Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International) – voluntary, covers all non-human vertebrates at the institution

- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – oversees federally protected species, migratory birds, and international transport of all vertebrate animals and their parts

- Arizona Game & Fish Department – oversees the capture & holding of native wildlife, as well as the holding of restricted non-native wildlife

- Arizona Department of Health Services – covers species where there is a concern for zoonotic disease

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Next tri-annual visit is this winter!

All mammals except laboratory mice & rats

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Secondary objective - service

To minimize the burden on investigators (provided it does not interfere with Objective 1)

- Assist investigators in achieving compliance.

- Develop processes that are consistent but flexible enough to be relevant to the varied animal use on campus.

- Eliminate the need for duplication of effort by investigators (e.g., sharing of protocols across institutions)

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

The review process (detailed in the Policies & Procedures Manual):

Protocols:- pre-reviewed by the Attending Veterinarian, then one other IACUC member (assigned by the Chair as the Primary Reviewer)

- reviewed by the full committee at a convened meeting in the presence of the PI or designee

Amendments:- Minor – administratively approved by the Chair

- Significant – with the approval of the full committee, reviewed by a Designated Reviewer (assigned by the Chair) and the Attending Veterinarian

- Major – reviewed by full committee at a convened meeting

- the rationale for the new procedure is consistent with the research goals in the approved protocol

- involves no increased risk of pain, distress, or discomfort to animals

- does not markedly increase, by absolute or relative terms, the number of animals involved in the project

- a change that does not affect the animals (e.g., adding personnel)

- any change deemed substantive by the Chair or any IACUC member

Protocol Form

- regulatory oversight is very dynamic (if the rules change, the form must change)

- improve comprehension of the questions (the better the question, the more likely we get the info we need)

- improve internal logistics (to ease reporting)

Why does the protocol form change periodically?

MAKE SURE TO USE THE MOST CURRENT FORM! (available on the web site)