An Interagency Collaborative Animal Research Education (ICARE) Academy will be held February 27-28, 2017, in Arlington, Texas.
 
About the ICARE Academies

The Northwest Association for Biomedical Research (NWABR) will present the 2017 IACUC Regional Educational Conference on February 22, 2017, in Lynnwood, WA. The theme of this year’s conference is The Heart of IACUC: Caring for Animals in Research. This one-day conference for IACUC members, veterinarians, animal care staff and researchers covers hot topics related to animal care and use, led by facilitators from around the U.S.

OLAW Comments on Hatching Fish – When Should Animal Tracking Begin? In a new column published in Zebrafish, OLAW discusses authority and oversight of PHS-supported zebrafish activities and implementation of zebrafish standards. View the article

The Interagency Collaborative Animal Research Education (ICARE) Project is a new federal initiative to empower IACUCs and their institutions to increase compliance with federal standards while minimizing regulatory burden. The ICARE Project uses active learning pedagogy which has been shown to increase effectiveness of adult education in factual and theoretical understanding of scientific and ethical issues by engaging the learner in activities that require the application of high-level concepts.
 

The IACUC Administrators Association (IAA) will present a Best Practices Meeting on December 13-14, 2016 in Ann Arbor, MI. This meeting is for IACUC staff and animal program operations personnel to present and share best practices in the humane care and use of laboratory animals. For additional information, visit IAA or email wggreer@UMich.edu.

Do you know the reporting requirements of the PHS Policy? Does your institution self-evaluate? Join OLAW for a webinar, Self-Evaluation & Reporting: Always Let the Guide be Your Conscience, on December 15, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm ET. In this webinar, George Babcock of the University of Cincinnati will talk about considerations and approaches for performing continuing review. He’ll share tips for encouraging self-reporting among various members of the animal program and provide suggestions for dealing with noncompliance.
 
About OLAW Webinars

Annual reports for the period January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016 are due to OLAW by January 31, 2017 as required by the PHS Policy.
 
What to Include
As with previous annual reports, the information to be reported consists of any change in the institution’s program of animal care and use, any change in the Institutional Official or IACUC membership, the dates that the IACUC conducted its semiannual evaluations of the program and facilities, and any minority view by an IACUC member.
 
How to Submit

The NIH Office of Research Infrastructure Programs is requesting information on Effects of Extrinsic Environmental Factors on Animal Research: Rigor and Reproducibility (See NOT-OD-17-011). This Request for Information (RFI) provides an opportunity for the biomedical research community to comment about the significance of standard environmental conditions in facilities and laboratories for the scientific rigor of animal model experiments and the effects of such conditions on reproducibility of related experimental outcomes.

Animal Models for Microbiome Research: Advancing Basic and Translational Science
 

Visit the Guidance section on the OLAW website for updated Commentary on Lab Animal Protocol Review columns. In the November 2016 issue, A Word from OLAW responds to the topic “Who should decide when and how to contact OLAW?” Download the column here: Lab Animal 2016; 45(11). (PDF)