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EDUCATION

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2003 Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC) Annual Conference
San Diego, CA
March 29–April 1, 2003

Overview

In the 1980s, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) were in their infancy, and were primarily concerned with their own structure, functions, procedures, and broad areas of responsibilities. Issues included membership requirements (e.g., non-affiliated), location of the committee within the organizational structure, and how to conduct protocol reviews.

The 1990s found the IACUCs' focus moving from these basic issues to learning how to deal with operational specifics, e.g., new USDA regulatory requirements for assurance of non-duplication, absence of alternatives, exercise for dogs, psychological well-being of primates, etc. -- all with a subtle but recognizable shift from "What's our job?" to "How do we do our job better?"

The 2000s will inevitably bring new areas of emphasis for IACUCs, and those of which we are already aware will be highlighted in this year's PRIM&R/ARENA IACUC Conference. One such focal point is the welfare and well being of the animals themselves. While the traditional laboratory animal science community has contributed much to the literature in the area of research animal well being, a potentially larger pool of information exists outside the generally-considered scope of that community. In the past, traditional animal welfare science and laboratory animal science have not worked closely together… our 2003 Conference program aimed to close that gap.

At the same time, new developments in operational areas also received attention. "Just-in-time" IACUC approval, and grant proposal/IACUC protocol comparison, are priority concerns for IACUCs around the country. The latest developments and interpretations of these new policies were presented by the experts. Our speakers also explored policy and practice developments related to approved protocols. Effective mechanisms for monitoring the post-approval conduct of research were addressed in panel presentations and discussion. Faculty for this conference included leading IACUC experts, Federal policy makers, laboratory animal veterinarians, ethicists, researchers, representatives of industry, and those engaged in the applied research ethics field.

Finally, the 2003 program presented very timely information and an opportunity for discussion in the area of biological and chemical defense research involving animals.

Calendar

Saturday, March 29 - Educational Programs