What's New

March 23, 2009

Dear Colleagues,

In response to genuine concern expressed by campus investigators and department chairs about the animal use protocol process, I asked an ad hoc faculty committee to evaluate that aspect of the animal care and use program and to make recommendation for improving it to better serve campus investigators.

The committee has completed its work and its report can be accessed here (pdf 581 kb).

I have accepted the committee’s three primary recommendations. First, the e-Sirius™ protocol submission and review interface will be replaced with a more familiar, easier to use document format, while the business functions of e-Sirius™ will be retained. The protocol form will be updated to remove unnecessary questions, improve the clarity of the questions and instructions, and to add examples and “boiler-plate” language for common procedures. There are some technical challenges involved transferring data from the protocol form into e-Sirius™, so the process will not occur instantaneously. We will keep you apprised on progress, but the new protocol form will be available over the summer. The second and third recommendations deal with creating a more collaborative relationship between investigators, the clinical veterinarians and IACUC members and providing greater consistency in animal use protocol review.

I want to thank the committee members for their dedication and hard work in undertaking this important task. As always, I value input from the campus community on ways to improve the animal care and use program.

James W. Tracy, PhD
Vice President for Research
Institutional Official