IACUC Procedures
Western Kentucky University maintains an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee in accordance with federal regulations. All institutions receiving federal support are required to monitor research with vertebrate animals to assure that the animals are being cared for appropriately. The WKU IACUC committee is appointed by the Provost and reviews protocols submitted by members of the WKU community performing experimentation with vertebrate animals, or keeping vertebrate animals for educational purposes. Additional information about research with animals can be found at the website for the NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/references/phspol.htm). The mission of the WKU IACUC is to assure that all work with vertebrate animals is justifiable and to facilitate WKU researchers in maintaining compliance with federal law.
Who needs to submit an application? Anyone working with vertebrate animals where the animals will be affected by the research/ educational activity needs to receive IACUC approval BEFORE starting the work.
Students who are seeking funding (FUSE grants, Graduate Student Research Grants, external grants) should be listed on the grant application. The PI (faculty or staff) on the project is responsible for assuring that all students have been trained in the proper care of the animals and that all students have completed the IACUC training on the www.CITIprogram.org website. If new students or staff join the project it is the responsibility of the PI to assure they are properly trained and acknowledged on the application before working with the animals.
Protocols can be active for up to 3 years before requiring a resubmission. We recommend asking for the maximum even if your project is likely to be completed before that time. If you protocol expires before your project is completed, you must stop work until you have received approval to continue the project/ activity.
You are welcome to write up a new summary of your project or cut and paste from a research proposal being submitted for financial support. Be sure that the description includes background information and the question you are investigating, along with the ways you will actually be using the animals, so we can assess whether the project is justified. Many NSF and NIH proposals will contain little detail on how the animals will be housed and the procedures they will be subjected to, so adding this detail will facilitate the review process and reduce the number of revisions needed to complete the process.
SOP’s and guiding policy. “The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” is a document from the National Research Council that contains guidelines for housing animals and using them in research. The authors of “The Guide” focus primarily on animals used in biomedical research. In response to this document (and its lack of applicability to field research), taxa specific guides have been prepared by professional societies to guide researchers in their specific fields (e.g., “Guidelines of the American Society of Mammologists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research.”). If you are unfamiliar with the available guides in your field, contact the IACUC chair for assistance.
Species used – if performing field research on natural populations, list the expected species (e.g., “rodent species in Hart County, KY”, “freshwater fish assemblage in Drakes Creek, KY”), if any are endangered, threatened, or species of special concern, and the expected number to be captured.
Discomfort, distress, and pain – list pain or distress even if it is minimal and does not call for treatment. At the bottom of the section there is a place where you can justify why no treatment is called for. Many distressful or painful procedures (blood draw, capture in a net or trap) result in minimal and momentary pain or distress that do not call for the use of anesthetic.
Consulting with a veterinarian is not necessary for protocol approval but is encouraged, especially for those housing animals and performing surgeries.
This application must be completed for each separate animal use project involving research, education or any other related animal use activity. The completed form must be submitted to the Compliance Officer of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The Office of Research Integrity at ori@wku.edu.
The Committee performs most of their activities electronically, so submitting your application in the form of a word document speeds the review of your materials and any required revisions. Once the application is in an acceptable form you will be asked to collect the signatures researchers on the protocol, and scan the document to a .pdf format. Although the review process is often completed in less than 2 weeks, PI’s are encouraged to submit their materials 4 weeks before the anticipated start of the project to avoid delays.
- Full Committee Review - Under full committee review, a quorum of the committee must meet in person (audio/video conferencing has been allowed in special situations) to discuss the proposal. After discussion, a vote on approval is taken and a majority of members must vote to approve. Dissenting members can submit a "minority opinion" in the meeting minutes if they wish.
- Designated reviewer method - The proposals are sent to the committee and everyone is allowed one week to submit a request that the proposal be reviewed using the "full committee review" method. If no one requests a full committee review, the chair can assign the proposal to one or more members for review. The designated reviewer(s) can approve the proposal, grant approval upon minor changes, or request a full committee review. The designated reviewer(s) cannot deny approval. Only the full committee, in a convened meeting, can deny a proposal.
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