By Mandy Kozlowski, IACUC Office Director
Offsite Collaborations Involving Animal Work
The Northwestern Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Office maintains an approved Animal Welfare Assurance with the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW). This Assurance is required in order for Northwestern to receive PHS and other federal funding. Per the NIH Grants Policy Statement terms and conditions, grantee organizations “bear ultimate responsibility for compliance with the PHS Policy in all PHS supported activities”. This includes animal work and creation of custom antibodies at Northwestern and all performance sites.
In an effort to ensure appropriate oversight and compliance with the approved Assurance, the IACUC conducts a reciprocal review of the performance site animal protocols supported by Northwestern funding. If the work is PHS supported, the NIH Grants Policy Statement terms and conditions requires that work proposed in the grant application is congruent with any protocol approved by the IACUC. This institutional responsibility for congruency is accomplished by the IACUC Office while the IACUC conducts a reciprocal review of the performance site approved protocol.
For more information about this process, please visit the IACUC website at https://iacuc.northwestern.edu/collaborations.
