OLAW Webinar Provides Details On Semiannual Program Reviews

Institutions whose animal research must comply with the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals are required to inspect animal facilities and review their “program for humane care and use of animals” no less than every six months.

Although program review can be guided by a checklist developed by the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) would be well-served to also use the experience to improve operations.

“Since robust programs continue to evolve based on new discoveries in, for example, the field of veterinary medicine, the review can be used as an opportunity to ensure the program continues to reflect current best practices,” said William Greer, assistant vice president for research compliance oversight at the University of Michigan (UM).

A review “gives institutions the opportunity to update written documents after IACUC discussions; once the documents are reviewed by the committee, these reviews can be documented and maintained through the compliance office. In addition, the opportunity allows committee members to reconsider past decisions and enhance practices that ultimately may improve the overall quality and efficiency of the program,” said Greer.

Greer, one of two speakers at OLAW’s recent webinar on semiannual program review, also suggested it can be “a source of ongoing training for committee members,” giving them “the opportunity to ask specific questions about various components of the program, which ultimately improves their understanding of the overall animal care and use program and more importantly their role as a committee member.”

Dawn O’Connor, assistant director for regulatory compliance for UM’s Animal Care and Use Office, joined Greer in the webinar. Both previously spoke about the related topic of semiannual facility inspections during an OLAW webinar last summer (“U. of Michigan Provides Insights Into Inspections of Animal Research Sites,” RRC 15, no. 8).

During the webinar, the last of 2018, Greer, O’Connor and Neera Gopee, acting director of OLAW’s Division of Policy and Education, also answered more than a dozen questions.

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