E11 - PLENARY: Striving for Consistency: Institutional Efforts to Sync the Letter and Spirit of Regulations in Nonhuman Animal Research

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In the US regulatory system, IACUCs are charged with the review and oversight of research with nonhuman animals, and these IACUCs interpret and implement federal, state, and local, regulations, policies, and standards. The strength of this local independence of IACUCs is the allowance for agility, flexibility, and application of performance standards to protocol review and oversight of research to foster a balance between scientific aims and animal welfare. However, the mounting tasks to be met by the IACUC, from facility inspections to compliance monitoring, to protocol review are inherently inconsistent in practice across institutions. This variance is due to the expertise and makeup of the committee members at any given time and the investment of institutional resources for compliance efforts. Understandably, from a researcher perspective, such variance may lead to uncertainty in research planning and implementation. From a rigor and reproducibility perspective, such variance may lead to subjective and ethical challenges to refine historical research procedures. This session will provide an opportunity for attendees to consider the challenges that arise from current IACUC expectations and discuss steps toward consistency from multiple panelists’ perspectives.