Guidelines for IACUC Animal Research Approval

All research, teaching, testing, and observation activities using live vertebrate animals and higher-level invertebrates (such as Class Cephalopoda) must be outlined in an animal use protocol. Before any animals can be obtained or activated, the protocol or amendment must be reviewed and approved by the IACUC.

test tubes.

The IACUC Monthly Proposal and Revision Deadlines

Protocols must be submitted to the IACUC and ready for committee review by the 1st of the month in order to be added to the agenda for that month.  Please be aware that most protocols have pre-review concerns that must be addressed by the 1st of the month deadline. 

No exceptions allowed.

New Protocol, Triennial, Amendment Approval

State, federal and Public Health Service (PHS) regulations seek humane care for all institutional use of animals and require the university's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) to review and approve research plans, regardless of the funding sources.   

Certification Documents

Protocols and Triennials

  • There are no expedited reviews for IACUC protocols or amendments.
  • The IACUC committee only meets once a month to conduct official business. Submission deadlines must be closely observed.
  • New protocols and triennials can take 30-90 days for approval to be granted. 
  • Federal law requires a complete triennial (de novo) review every three years to receive continued approval of ongoing animal use activities on a protocol.
  • University at Buffalo requires an annual review for any animal protocol that conducts level E experiments or procedures.
  • Click, the protocol management software will automatically notify the Principal Investigator (PI) at 90, 60, and 30 from the expiration date. Regardless of the notification, it is the PIs responsibility to ensure that an annual or triennial is submitted for review within the correct time frame for continue approval.  
  • All amendments, annuals, or triennials must be submitted through Click. 
  • Any protocol or amendment that has not had edits submitted within six months from the initial submission date will be removed from the review process. The submission will need to be resubmitted to the IACUC review and approval process.

Amendments

  • Amendments must be available to the IACUC committee for three business days before an in-depth can take place.
  • All amendments are considered significant unless they can be administratively approved.
  • Amendments can take 30-60 days to be approved. The IACUC committee has provisions for Blackout Amendments and Veterinary Verification and Consultation (VVC).

For more information on IACUC protocol oversight, Blackout amendments and VVC, please review IACUC policies in the Click library.

For questions regarding exemptions to the animal use guidelines, contact iacuc@research.buffalo.edu

The IACUC Guidelines on Special Procedures

UB's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) procedures and guidelines follow nationally established standards to ensure the university's animal research and education is ethical and compliant. 

Multiple surgical procedures:


Keep the following in mind when performing multiple surgeries on animals.
 
  1. The nature of the protocol achieves the desired physical or physiological effect.
  2. There is no other alternative available.
  3. The surgical procedure is needed to create the animal model.
  4. Sufficient time between surgeries is allowed for proper recovery.
  5. Written scientific justification is provided to and approved by the IACUC.

The use of physical restraint:

Avoid prolonged restraint unless it is essential for achieving the research objectives.

  1. Keep the period of restraint to the minimum required to accomplish the research objective.
  2. Give animals training to adapt to equipment and personnel.
  3. Provide for observation of the animal at appropriate intervals.
  4. Seek and provide veterinary care if you see lesions or signs of illness.
  5. Restraint devices are not to be considered normal methods of housing.
  6. Don't use restraint simply as a convenience in handling or managing animals.

The use of food/water restriction:

Protocols involving food/water restrictions must include the following provisions:

  1. You must scientifically justify food/water restrictions for research purposes and establish a program that monitors the physiologic and behavior indexes.
  2. Minimally, you must maintain daily logs of food or water intake, recording body weight at least once a week.
  3. Clearly define specific criteria that would trigger an animal’s early removal from the study.
  4. For food restrictions, pay special attention to ensure animals are consuming a balanced diet.
  5. For conditioned-response protocols, we recommend use of a highly preferred food or fluid as positive-reinforcement rather than restriction.