Conducting research with animals is essential to the advancement of knowledge related to human health, animal health, and other areas that benefit society. The institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) is the society’s gatekeeper charged with ensuring that research involving animals is both ethically and scientifically justified.  

The 8th edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals emphasizes the IACUC’s obligation “to weigh the objectives of the study against the potential animal welfare concerns.” Although the concept that concerns about animal well-being must be balanced with the value of the research is not new, there is increased emphasis on ensuring ethical treatment of animals in research in the new Guide. The NIH adopted the 8th Edition of the Guide effective January 1, 2012, and as of December 31, 2012, all relevant institutions were required to have in place a plan and schedule for implementing the revised Guide. This webinar will discuss implications of provisions of the 8th edition of the Guide around scientific merit review and harm-benefit analysis.

More specifically, during this webinar, the faculty will:

• Define key terms, including “scientific merit,” and provide an overview of ethical principles applicable to animal research
• Describe harm-benefit analysis in animal research and discuss how to apply ethical principles to that analysis
• Articulate the responsibility of the IACUC for scientific merit review, and distinguish it from the role of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Explore opposing ethical viewpoints related to animal research
• Explain how the IACUC conducts scientific merit reviews in accordance with the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy, the 8th edition of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and Animal Welfare Act (AWA) regulations

Audience

This intermediate-level webinar will be of interest to IACUC chairs, members, and staff who review protocols, as well as investigators, laboratory animal veterinarians, and animal care staff.