March 13, 2024 | 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET | Virtual

During this webinar, the IAA will discuss the role of the IACUC Administrators Association in the IACUC Administrative Community. This webinar will review 2023 program demographics, talk about upcoming programs, and then focus some discussion on “Hard Questions.” All are welcome to attend this session at no charge.  

Webinar Topics (subject to change):

• IAA Description and Background
• 2024 IAA Activities Planning
• Program Demographics (2023 Survey Data)
• 2023 in Review
• Some Hard Questions (Panel Experts)

Participants are encouraged to submit questions to Bill Greer at [email protected] prior to the event. During each session, attendees will be encouraged to discuss their own institution's practices and ideas. 

March 21, 2024 | 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET | Virtual

This OLAW online seminar will discuss research involving farm animals. Topics to be discussed include farm animal use in biomedical and agricultural research, common challenges with these species, and perspectives from the USDA, OLAW, and AAALAC International. 

Speakers include:

• Debbie Cunningham, DVM - Oklahoma State University
• Louis DiVincenti, DVM, MS, DACLAM, DACAW - USDA, APHIS, Animal Care 
• Susan B. Harper, DVM, MS, DACLAM, DACVPM, RBP (ABSA) - NIH (presenting the views of AAALAC International)

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April 9, 2024 | In-Person | Baltimore, MD

Register for this interactive in-person workshop featuring a keynote address on the ethics of using animals in research, regulatory and AAALAC International updates, and scenario discussions presented by research professionals. This workshop will be held at University of Maryland-Baltimore in Baltimore, MD. You can find the program with speakers and the registration link here:

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March 27, 2024 | 11:30 AM - 4:30 pm ET | Virtual 

The IBC 101/Best Practice meeting is a 5-hour training opportunity for both new and seasoned Biosafety committee members, Biosafety Administrators, program compliance coordinators, and other individuals who contribute to the institution’s biosafety compliance program. Sessions are initiated using didactic presentations that are intended to provide sufficient background on several topics to ensure attendees have a general understanding of an overall Institutional Biosafety programs. During each meeting session it is important for attendees to engage in the discussion should any questions arise.

Upon hearing of a new procedure that may be a refinement to her current experimental practices, an investigator proposes a pilot study to evaluate its effectiveness in comparison to her traditional methods. She proposes to run this pilot study alongside her regular studies. The IACUC wonders: Should they require the PI to stop all research until the pilot study is completed, or can she continue her work while evaluating the possible new alternative?

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April 15-19, 2024 | Virtual and In-Person | Galveston, TX

For the past 15 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in collaboration with the University of Texas Medical Branch has hosted a nonclinical course titled “Achieving Data Quality and Integrity in Maximum Containment Laboratories.” This course has provided valuable information to a variety of biomedical researchers and public health staff nationally and internationally on how to achieve quality data for nonclinical studies in high containment laboratories according to FDA’s Good Laboratory Practice regulations to include Animal Rule standards. In 2023, a One Health session was added to the curriculum that includes an interactive exercise on how to use the One Health approach for nonclinical studies and the development of medical countermeasures.

March 6-7, 2024, May 8-9, 2024 | Virtual

Join the USDA’s Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC) for a free “Meeting the Information Requirements of the Animal Welfare Act” Virtual Workshop on March 6 & 7, 2024, from 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. ET each day or on May 8 & 9, 2024 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET each day. Both workshops will cover the same material, so it is only necessary to attend the March or May workshop.

The workshop will review:

February 8-9, 2024 | Virtual

This workshop explores IACUC fundamentals and is appropriate for new and seasoned IACUC members, IACUC affiliates, and individuals responsible for their institution's animal care and use program. The course provides a basic yet comprehensive overview of the laws, regulations, and policies that govern the humane care and use of research animals. The USDA and OLAW will have representatives present to provide guidance on compliance issues and to provide agency updates.  

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Information regarding this external event is provided as a courtesy. 

During a post-approval monitoring visit, a staff member notices that an investigator has five pet rats in his office. The rats had been purchased from a pet store and were kept separate from other animals at the institution. The investigator explains that the rats are emotional support animals (ESAs) and claims that the animals are not subject to IACUC review. Is the investigator correct, and what should the institution consider when responding to the situation?

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Nicole Lukovsky-Akhsanov, DVM, MPH, DACLAM, has been appointed to the new position of Deputy Director in the Division of Assurances (DOA) at OLAW. She was previously a Senior Animal Welfare Program Specialist in the DOA, and now joins Dr. Jane Na, Director, DOA, in leading the division. Prior to joining OLAW in 2019, Dr. Lukovsky-Akhsanov completed her laboratory animal medicine residency at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and subsequently served as Assistant Director, Office of Animal Welfare, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. She received her DVM from the Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine and MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.