What is the IACUC?
The IACUC is the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The IACUC is required by federal guidelines for most institutions that use animals in research, teaching and testing.
What does the IACUC do?
The IACUC oversees the review and approval of the use of animals, animal research protocols and living environments for the animals used in research, teaching and testing. The IACUC is responsible for ensuring the highest welfare standards for animals used in research, teaching and testing. The IACUC carefully reviews the scientific goals, objectives and potential benefits of research protocols that are submitted to ensure that project has integrity, quality and warrant for the use of the proposed animals. The IACUC also ensures that the proposed research protocol complies with University standards, as well as, state and federal guidelines. Humane guidelines must be used to provide the best possible treatment of the animals utilized for research, teaching and testing. The IACUC also governs training, ensuring that anyone who will be utilizing animals for research, teaching and testing must receiving prior IACUC training and have completed the IACUC training course and earned their certificate of completion. This Program will provide suitable orientation, background material, access to appropriate resources, and specific training to assist IACUC members in understanding their roles and responsibilities. The IACUC will also strive to ensure that proper practices and treatment of the animals are in place to reduce pain and distress to the animals being utilized. This committee will also evaluate issues brought before the committee. Anyone with concerns regarding animal welfare may contact the committee and submit a request for review of the protocol in question.
Who does the IACUC consist of?
The IACUC is under the Office of the Provost and the provost will act as the Institutional Officer. The Provost will appoint an IACUC Chair who will oversee the committee. An administrator will be hired to assist the IACUC Chair. An attending Veterinary (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine either certified by ACLAM, ECLAM, JCLAM or KCLAM or with training and experience in laboratory animal science and medicine or in the use of the species at the institution. will oversee all animal research, teaching and testing. There will be at least one scientific member experienced in research involving animals, as well as, a “nonscientific” (lay population) member, from a nonscientific background (may be from inside or outside the institution. There is also a “non-affiliated member” whom is not part of the University and will represent general community interests in the proper care and use of animals.
Statement on Care and Use of Animals
- The use of animals in research and/or teaching must be conducted with relevance to the improvement of human or animal health or the advancement of knowledge for the good of society.
- The acquisition, care, and use of animals must be in accordance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
- A review procedure must be in place to ensure that the use of animals in research and education conforms to high ethical, humane, and scientific standards.
- Replacement, reduction and refinement efforts should be incorporated into the design and conduct of educational activities and research studies involving animals so as to minimize impact on the animals being utilized.
- Animals must be housed and maintained in humane and environments appropriate to the animal model used in teaching, research or testing. Veterinary medical care must be available.
- Training and education of all personnel involved in the care and use of animals must be completed and can be found here. (Link to training course)
- Sound scientific practice and humane considerations require that any animals exposed to experimental procedures that cause pain or distress receive sedation, analgesia, and/or anesthesia except in rare instances when doing so would negate the research itself.
- Humane endpoints should be identified and reviewed by Veterinary staff prior to an experimental procedure to prevent or minimize any unintentional pain and/or distress.
Before submitting proposals, researchers must consult the ˿Ƶ IACUC Policy.
Who must submit to the IACUC?
Anyone who wishes to work with animals must complete the training modules before they work with animals, and they must be approved to work with animals (i.e. on an approved protocol). Anyone teaching with an animal model, performing research on animals or testing animals must submit a protocol to the IACUC. Proper IACUC training is required and can be found here.
Submission Instructions
All protocol applications (for projects involving the use of live non-human vertebrates in teaching, training, or research) must be submitted via the electronic IACUC protocol management site, Mentor (linked at the top-right of this page)
Prior to submitting an application, project personnel should consult the , as well as , and (you must be logged in to your ˿Ƶ Gmail account to view these documents). The review process will be delayed if applications are not submitted according to the following instructions.
Note: all project personnel must complete the required CITI trainings before the application is submitted (instructions on how to register for CITI training, and which courses must be completed are in the New Protocol Submission Instructions document linked above). Failure to complete trainings on time will create delays in securing approval, and may affect project timelines.
Project Timelines and Protocol Submission Dates
All work with live vertebrate animals (including use in teaching, and in research) must be approved by the IACUC before the work may begin. Depending on the type of work, protocols may need to be reviewed at a convened IACUC meeting. The IACUC meets several times during the Academic Year (dates listed below). As you prepare your research timeline, please plan to have the protocol submitted at least 10 days prior to the scheduled meeting date. Note that the IACUC does not have regularly scheduled meetings during the winter or summer terms, and timelines should be planned accordingly.
Once a protocol is received, it will be reviewed by one or more members of the committee; if revisions are needed these will be communicated via email and returned to you within 2-3 weeks. Proposals that are incomplete (including missing evidence of CITI training, see Submission Instructions below), or inaccurately submitted will result in delays to the review process and extend the start time of the project. Note: when creating the project timeline please allow for the potential for multiple rounds of revision.
Academic Year 2024-2025 IACUC Meeting Dates
Meeting to discuss full-review protocol submissions are usually held once per month on a Thursday via Zoom from 11:30-12:30 PM during the academic year. Please note that the IACUC does not typically meet to review full-review protocols during the summer – please plan accordingly.
Fall 2024
- 9/12
- 10/24
- 11/25 (Note: this is a Tuesday)
Spring 2025
- 2/6
- 3/20
- 4/17
- 5/15
˿Ƶ, 4380 Main Street, Amherst, NY 14226
Web Address: ///ԲپٳܳپDzԲ-Ծ--Ի…
Email: iacuc@daemen.edu
IACUC Phone: 716-839-7327
Two types of review are recognized by the AWR (9 CFR Subchapter A) and PHS Policy (OLAW 2015): (1) Full Committee Review and (2) Designated Member Review. The type of review that is conducted on a protocol is determined by the Committee. A brief overview of each review process is outlined below.
Full committee review (FCR): in this type of review, members of the IACUC meet to review and deliberate on the project proposal. If a quorum (>50%) of the voting members are not present or are unable to vote (e.g., if a member recuses themselves due to a conflict of interest), the activity cannot be voted on and must be tabled until a future meeting with a proper quorum. There are three possible outcomes of an FCR:
1. Approval: no modifications or corrections to the proposal are necessary before animal procedures can begin.
2. Require modifications to secure approval: changes to the protocol are needed before approval is granted. Animal work may not proceed until the requested modifications have been reviewed and approved.
3. Withhold approval: In some circumstances (e.g., if the necessary facilities to carry out the proposed procedures are not available or are inadequate) the IACUC may vote to withhold approval. Activities involving animals are not permitted to proceed. This action is rare.
Designated member review (DMR): in this type of review, the protocol is reviewed by a subset of IACUC members outside a convened meeting. There are three possible outcomes of a DMR:
1. Approval.
2. Require modifications to secure approval.
3. Request full committee review: if designated reviewers cannot agree between Approving or Requiring Modifications to secure approval, then the protocol is referred to full committee review. A designated reviewer cannot withhold approval (this is only an option to the FCR).
All IACUC application forms (including new protocol applications, protocol renewal forms, protocol amendments, and protocol deviations) must be turned in through the online submission system, Mentor (linked at the top right of this page).
Prior to submitting a new application, project personnel should consult the as well as , and (you must be logged in to your ˿Ƶ Gmail account to view these documents). Note: all project personnel must complete the required CITI trainings before the application is submitted (instructions on how to register for CITI training, and which courses must be completed are in the New Protocol Submission Instructions document linked above. Failure to complete trainings on time will create delays in securing approval, and may affect project timelines.
The protocol must be approved by the IACUC before any work with animals may begin. Consult the Project Timelines and Protocol Submission Dates section above to review the timelines for protocol review, and plan project timelines accordingly.
˿Ƶ subscribes to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) program, which provides high quality, peer-reviewed educational materials for individuals involved in conducting or reviewing research. As part of the protocol submission process, individuals who are involved in the proposed project should complete the relevant training through CITI, which will then provide them with a training certificate. Researchers are required to upload their training certificates to Mentor (e-submission site) before their protocol can be reviewed.
Follow the instructions below to get started:
1. Go to citiprogram.org
2. If you do not have an account...
a. Click the 'Register' link above the username and password fields.
b. Follow the prompts and be sure to use your ˿Ƶ email address when asked.
c. When asked to provide a role, select either Co-Investigator (students) or Principle Investigator (faculty) unless another role is more appropriate.
3. If you already have an account...then after logging in, navigate to the My Courses page. You will be able to select one of two options:
a. If you’ve already become affiliated with ˿Ƶ, click on View Courses
b. If you’re not yet affiliated (you won’t see ˿Ƶ listed on this page if you’re not already affiliated), then click on “Add Affiliation” and search for ˿Ƶ.
4. On the ˿Ƶ page, scroll all the way down and you’ll see the box below. Click on Add a Course.
5. From here, you can select all the relevant courses you’d like to enroll in. However, for the IACUC application, be sure to select “Animal Care and Use”. This will bring you to another screen; there, be sure to select:
a. “˿Ƶ Animal Subjects Training for Researchers: for all individuals who are not IACUC Committee members”, and
b. The relevant course related to the animal model that you will be working with (i.e., one or more of the options listed in 3a-f).
6. Complete all the required modules. Note that this may take several hours to complete. Please plan accordingly.
7. After completing the course(s), click on the "View - Print - Share Record" option to download your completion report. (Note, this is different than a completion certificate. It is important to submit your full report that lists all modules completed along with their accompanying scores.)
8. Upload your completion report to Mentor using the "Training Certification" link under
the main "IACUC" tab.
Please contact iacuc@daemen.edu if you have any questions.