The IUP Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is pleased to offer you another IACUC "Memo to Investigators," our irregular series of messages to the IACUC user community that provides news and updates. Here, we wish to pass along news of a newly-available process by which investigators can consult directly with the IACUC attending veterinarian, through a procedure known as Veterinary Verification and Consultation.
Veterinary Verification and Consultation Procedure Now Available
It is not uncommon for investigators to require modifications to IACUC-approved proceduresnew anesthetics, new study species, and changes in project personnel are among those circumstances that could make an adjustment of one's procedures useful or necessary. When these situations arise, we expect that investigators will follow the normal process of submitting an IACUC protocol modification request. These are typically processed within 7-10 days of submission (often faster), and many of our investigators have used them repeatedly, as their needs have changed.
There can, however, be situations under which a more-immediate form of approval is required. To aid investigators in these situations, the IUP IACUC has developed a Veterinary Verification and Consultation process, modeled after those established at other universities. This process allows investigators to consult directly with the IACUC attending veterinarian, and to request some kinds of modifications to approved procedures over a very short time frame.
This process is not intended to replace the normal route of protocol modification; rather, it is intended to provide opportunity to adjust approved methods under time-critical situations. As such, it is expected that this process be invoked only in urgent situations, such as those when a field sampling session or opportunity would not be possible otherwise. Further, this process can only be used to request relatively minor forms of procedural changes, such as modification of drugs/dosage, changes to tissue collection, or euthanasia methods. Changes to project personnel, study species, or study locations would not be possible via VVC.
A short description of the VVC policy and procedure is available. Feel free to email the IUCUC at iacuc-info@iup.edu if you have any questions.