Dear investigator,
The IUP Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is pleased to offer you this IACUC Memo to Investigators,' a part of our irregular series of messages to the IACUC user community to provides news and updates. Here, we wish to pass along news of several recent developments:
1) New AVMA euthanasia guidelines
Last week, the American Veterinary Medical Association released an updated (year 2020) version of its Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. These guidelines are the most widely accepted standards for animal euthanasia procedures, and they form the basis for how IACUCs evaluate euthanasia procedures in animal use protocols. These guidelines appear little changed since the last (2013) edition, although some specific changes are notable (including those for mice). We're including a link to the new guidelines below; please review the section(s) relevant to your study species to ensure that your euthanasia methods are up-to-date.
2) New PDF-based protocol form template
In an effort to move the IACUC toward a paperless protocol system, the IACUC has developed a new, fillable-PDF version of its animal use protocol form. This new form supports electronic signatures, simple version tracking, and spell-checking. The new form is now available on the IACUC web site, and users are encouraged to begin using it.
For the next several months, both the existing (Microsoft Word-based) and the new PDF-format form templates will be available on the IACUC web site; once the new form has been more fully vetted, it will be required for all new submissions. Submissions made on the new PDF form can be in electronic form only, if desired. The IACUC welcomes your feedback on the usability of this new protocol template.
3) Email address for all electronic submissions
When making electronic submissions of your IACUC protocols, please email them to iacuc-submissions@iup.edu (only). Please do send or CC them to any other email address. This will help the IACUC ensure a linear processing chain for new submissions.
4) Requirement for approval to house animals
Recently, several IACUC users who house research animals have allowed their IACUC coverage to lapse. The IACUC would like to remind all users that IACUC approval is required not just for animal uses, but also for the captive housing of research animals.
One option that is available for those housing research animals is to construct IACUC protocols for the housing (only) of their research animals. These 'housing protocols' could reference existing animals breeding/husbandry SOP documents, which would make the development of housing protocols relatively simple. The IACUC is happy to assist anyone who wishes to pursue this option.
As always, the IACUC is here to serve our IUP research community. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.
Questions or concerns? Email them to iacuc-info@iup.edu.