IACUC Protocols are approved for three years. Protocols using any USDA-regulated species or receiving funding from the Department of Defense must undergo an Annual Review prior to the first and second approval anniversaries. If the research will be continuing past the three year expiration, a whole new protocol application must be submitted through ORAMS. This should be submitted at least two months before the protocol's expiration. If there were any approved changes to the protocol during the life of the protocol, these should be included in the new submission. This new submission will be reviewed during a convened IACUC meeting.

Protocols can only be approved at regularly scheduled meetings of the IACUC. The dates of IACUC meetings and protocol application submission deadlines are provided here. Protocols received after the deadline are subject to deferral until the next scheduled meeting. Generally, most protocols submitted before the submission deadline can be reviewed and approved at the next IACUC meeting, or within a month of submission. However, the IACUC suggests submitting your protocol application at least two months prior to the expiration date.

Major amendments can take anywhere from 1-6 weeks to be approved, and minor amendments can take less than a day to 2 weeks to be approved. Most major amendments can be approved by Designated Member Review; however, this process also allows any member of the IACUC the opportunity to request an amendment be reviewed by the full Committee at the next convened IACUC meeting.

To add a new researcher to a protocol, the researcher must complete all applicable training requirements. Once complete, the researcher will set up an appointment with the IACUC Coordinator to submit a Researcher Training Checklist and OHS form. After the IACUC Coordinator has verified that all of the training requirements for the researcher have been completed, they will be added to the protocol.

To add a researcher to a protocol who has already been cleared for working with animals, an email request must be sent to the IACUC Office. To remove a researcher from a protocol, an email request must be sent to the IACUC Office.

Access to the ARC animal facilities will be granted after all your training requirements have been verified by the IACUC Coordinator and you have completed a facility orientation with the ARC Manager. The IACUC Coordinator will put researchers in contact with ARC Manager once the necessary forms have been submitted.

Anyone may report a concern about animal use. Anyone reporting an animal use concern is protected from reprisal under the UCOP Whistleblower and Whistleblower Protection Policy. If you have any animal use concerns, you may contact the Attending Veterinarian at 805-893-7344 or 805-451-5931, the IACUC Chair at 805-893-2659, the IACUC Office at 805-893-5855, the Research Integrity Office within the Office of Research at 805-893-4286, or you may report your concerns directly to any member of the ARC staff. You may also report concerns via the UC Whistleblower Hotline at 800-403-4744.

The Animal Resource Center staff can help answer questions about ordering animals, housing, per diem rates, and questions related to the animal facilities.

If you are unsure about the materials you will be using, it is best practice to contact the Coordinator for the individual committees to discuss the materials you would like to use.

A description of the UCSB animal care facilities and veterinary care program can be found on the IACUC's webpage. The document that you want is titled Vertebrate Animal Section (VAS) for Grant Applications. Additional information from the NIH for preparing the VAS can be found here.

Sharing tissues in this manner is considered to be an effective application of reduction of animal use as long as it meets certain criteria:

1. The animals were euthanized by trained personnel using a euthanasia method described in their approved animal protocol and meeting the recommendation of the American Veterinary Medical Association Guidelines on Euthanasia.

2. The animals do not pose a risk of injury or infection for the personnel using the harvested cells or tissues. Specifically, animal tissues or cells that are exposed to toxic or biohazardous agents should not be shared.

3. The harvested cells or tissues do not pose a risk of rodent pathogen transmission. Specifically, cells or tissues harvested from rodents outside of your animal colony (e.g. different vivarium) should not be transplanted in animals housed in your colony.

If you are unsure if your use of tissue meets the above requirements, contact the IACUC Office for more information.

According to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, it would be reasonable for the IACUC to review and approve the use of non-pharmaceutical-grade substances in the following situations:

1. If no equivalent veterinary or human drug is available for experimental use, then the highest-grade equivalent chemical reagent should be used and formulated aseptically and with a non-toxic vehicle as appropriate for the route of administration.

2. Although an equivalent veterinary or human drug is available for experimental use, the chemical-grade reagent is required to replicate methods from previous studies because results are directly compared to those of replicated studies.

3. Although an equivalent veterinary or human drug is available, dilution or change in formulation is required.

  • If adulteration by dilution, addition, or other change in formulation is required, there may be no additional advantage to be gained by using the USP formulation.
  • Use of the highest-grade reagent may have the advantage of single-stage formulation and also result in purity that is equal to or higher than the human or veterinary drug.
  • Professional judgment should be used to determine the appropriate test material and to ensure use of an agent with the least likelihood for causing adverse effects.

4. The available human or veterinary drug is not concentrated enough to meet experimental requirements.

5. The available human or veterinary drug does not meet the non-toxic vehicle requirements for the specified route of injection.