Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee
In order to receive federal funding, Institutions must agree to uphold the regulations governing laboratory animal care and use. This is confirmed through a Public Health Service (PHS) Assurance which is approved by the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This Assurance must be in place so that our institution can receive federal funding for animal research.
Below are the procedures for obtaining your IACUC approval date via a congruency letter, as well as information on the Vertebrate Animals Section (VAS) and Veterinary Care Program Descriptions.
Congruency Reviews
It is a requirement of both Federal law and NIH Grants Policy to ensure that an in vivo project selected for funding is congruent with an approved Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protocol(s). Funding agencies ask for this verification by requesting an IACUC approval date. It is the release of the approval date that verifies to the agency that a congruency comparison has been completed. Therefore, the approval date cannot be released until the Institution has verified that the proposal and the protocol(s) are congruent. Please see Policy on Congruency Review & Collaborations with Outside Organizations.
Vertebrate Animals Sections (VAS)
A VAS is required by the NIH if the work proposed in a grant application or cooperative agreement involves live vertebrate animals, including animals obtained or euthanized for tissue harvest and generation of custom antibodies. This section details these requirements and provides a worksheet to assist applicants in preparing the VAS for submission.
Veterinary Care Program Descriptions
This page provides pre-written program descriptions that may be requested by funding agencies.