IACUC.org is now IACUC Central, a comprehensive repository for all things IACUC. IACUC Central is a valuable resource for institutional animal care and use committee members and staff. Updated quarterly, IACUC Central organizes information into pages containing links to governmental agencies, databases, examples of institutional websites, training resources, and more.
NEWS
AVMA's Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals
The AVMA has updated their euthanasia guidelines to include new techniques and revisions to existing ones, and more species than ever before. View the new guidelines (PDF).
PREPARE and ARRIVE Guidelines
Workshops
3Rs Symposium: Practical Solutions and Success Stories
- June 4-5, 2020; Beltsville, MD
- 1.5 days of lectures and panel discussions with interactive breakout sessions
- Optional pre-symposium activity: half-day tour at Agricultural Research Service on June 3, 2019
- Co-hosts: USDA Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC), NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), Johns Hopkins Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)
Interagency Collaborative Animal Research Education (ICARE) Project
- ICARE Academy - Training for IACUC members, staff, and institutional animal program personnel on meeting responsibilities for animal welfare oversight
- Intro: March 2–3, 2020; Durham, North Carolina
- Refining: April 28–30, 2020; Denver, Colorado
- Train the Trainer: June 23–26, 2020; Detroit, Michigan
- Intro: September 15–16, 2020; St. Louis, Missouri
- ICARE Project - Training Modules
Massachusetts Society for Medical Research, Inc. — 2020 MSMR Online IACUC Training in 6 Weekly Sessions
Scientists Center for Animal Welfare - SCAW IACUC Training Workshops
- March 20, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana
- May 18, 2020; Bethesda, Maryland
USDA: Animal Welfare Information Center - Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act in Beltsville, Maryland
- March 12–13, 2020
- May 14–15, 2020
- October 8–9, 2020
Conferences
PRIM&R - 2020 IACUC Conference
- April 6–7, 2020; Orlando, Florida
- April 12–13, 2021; Denver, Colorado
Scientists Center for Animal Welfare (SCAW) - SCAW Winter Conference - Sessions will provide key findings and advances in research animal welfare, explore policy and management issues related to IACUCs, and develop awareness of humane care and use of agricultural animals in research.
- December 7–8, 2020; San Antonio, Texas
- December 6–7, 2021; San Antonio, Texas
- December 5–6, 2022; San Antonio, Texas
The 2020 conference — The Three I's: Research Integrity & Biosecurity™ - Promoting Research, Integrity and Compliance by Providing Training in the Ethical and Responsible Conduct of Research hosted by the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research, the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research, the FBI Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate, and the Maine Regulatory Training and Ethics Center, will address the needs and concerns of security professionals, IACUCs, IBCs, and IRBs.
- April 29, 30, and May 1, 2020; Chapel Hill, N.C.
New Guidelines for Zebrafish Housing and Husbandry
On September 11, 2019, a joint working group of the European Society for Fish Models in Biology and Medicine (EUFishBioMed) and the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA) published an article, "Zebrafish: Housing and Husbandry Recommendations," in Laboratory Animals.
Reduction of Regulatory Burden
21st Century Cures Act: The NIH, USDA, and FDA were directed to conduct a review of applicable regulations and policies for the care and use of laboratory animals to reduce administrative burden on investigators. In August 2019, they released a report, Reducing Administrative Burden for Researchers: Animal Care and Use in Research. They intend to begin work on the steps and actions described in the report and will identify additional ways to protect animal welfare while reducing administrative burden on researchers.
AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals
Read the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals released in April 2019, and register for the related September 26th OLAW webinar, Application of the AVMA Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals in Biomedical Research.
USDA News
Enhanced Online Reporting System
USDA's Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service (APHIS) launched a new and improved online Annual Reporting system for research facilities.
Drop in Enforcement Actions
In an article, “Caged Raccoons Drooled in 100-degree Heat. But Federal Enforcement has Faded,” the Washington Post reports USDA citations have decreased dramatically, and the USDA says that this is due to staff vacancies and a more collaborative approach with researchers. However, many animal care employees feel that the new approach is an abandonment of the mission to protect animals.
Looking at USDA impact reports since 2016, one can see that there has been a drop in enforcement actions.
2017 Accomplishments
USDA Animal Care increased it's focus on customer service and efficiency in 2017 and to highlight their accomplishments, they have published an accomplishment report (PDF) and a poster (PDF) to share the postive results of their efforts. USDA APHIS recently posted the Annual Report Animal Usage by Fiscal Year, 2017 (PDF). A summary analysis of the 2016 data was provided by Speaking of Research.
