All research, teaching, and testing activities involving live, vertebrate animals must be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The IACUC is responsible for overseeing campus animal care and use programs; monitoring the care, use, and treatment of animals; ensuring compliance with applicable laws, regulations standards; and University policies pertaining to the care and use of animals.

 

The committee is guided by:

Institutional policy: Care and Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Teaching policy

IACUC policy and procedures: OSU CHS Animal Care and Use Handbook

Any living, non-human, vertebrate animal (i.e., amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, and reptiles) used or intended for use in research, research training, teaching, and testing. This does not include campus therapy pets (e.g. OSU Pete’s Pet Posse).

Submit an application to Cayuse  
Note: Researchers should use their OSU SSO Credentials to login. After login, the user should be able to navigate between the IACUC and IBC modules within the system.

 

We have created some guidance on using the Animal Oversight module within Cayuse
Note: The links will require login to Sharepoint

Training Videos

• • Researcher Manual for Cayuse Animal Oversight Module (PDF)
  • Researcher Training - Getting Started in Cayuse Animal Oversight (video)
  • Researcher Requesting Cage Cards through Animal Inventory (pdf)
  • Researcher Training on Animal Inventory (video)
  • Ordering Animals Through Animal Procurement (pdf)
  • Researcher Training on Animal Procurement (video)
  • IACUC Researcher Animal Procurement

Guidance Documents

• Researchers: How to Create a Protocol
• Researchers: How to Use Mailbox Alerts

Guidance for IACUC Member/Reviewer

• IACUC Member Manual for Animal Oversight (pdf)
• IACUC Member- How to Submit a Review (Video)

Help Center
For additional tutorials and tips, you can go to Cayuse's Help Center at https://support.cayuse.com

Experimental Design Assistant is a free online tool from the NC3Rs, designed to guide researchers through the design of their experiments, helping to ensure that they use the minimum number of animals consistent with their scientific objectives, methods to reduce subjective bias, and appropriate statistical analysis.

 

The EDA website also provides information about the different concepts of experimental design, and how to apply these in your experiments. 

 

Once you draft a design via EDA, it can be easily inserted into your IACUC (Cayuse) application. This format aids the IACUC in understanding your research design. Additionally, the design can be inserted into grant proposals.

The committee meets 2^nd Monday of every month. Please plan accordingly.

Animal welfare regulations and Public Health Service policy require institutions to ensure that people caring for or using animals are qualified to do so. Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU CHS) is charged with providing training opportunities to meet these regulations. Consequently, all personnel (e.g., principal investigators/instructors (PIs), research faculty/staff, graduate students, laboratory technicians, students, etc.) involved in animal care and/or use of live vertebrate animals in research, teaching, or testing at OSU CHS must complete prescribed mandatory training prior to protocol approval and prior to working with animals.

OSU CHS offers initial orientation training and an online web-based training course provided through the CITI. If you would like to request training on a specific topic not covered in CITI or set up an in-person IACUC training, please contact the chsiacuc@okstate.edu.

 

Access Training ›

Training Instructions

Other training resources (optional):

• Tutorial on the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals
• Working at Animal Biosafety Levels 1, 2, and 3
• AALAS Learning Library
• Johns Hopkins University - Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing
• NIAID Foundation Tutorial: How to Write an Application Involving Research Animals

The Assurance is the principal document between OSU CHS and the Public Health Service’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) defining the relationship between the entities in terms of the campus’ animal care and use program. The campus Institutional Official signs the Assurance, which commits the campus to adherence to the PHS policy. An Assurance may be renewed every four years.

 

Our Animal Welfare Assurance: A3679-01

It is the policy of OSU-CHS that the care, use and treatment of university-owned laboratory animals should be of high quality and in compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations. Any person with knowledge of deficiencies or with reasonable suspicions of deficiencies or mistreatment involving OSU-CHS laboratory animals is obligated to report them directly to a member of the IACUC or research compliance, Individuals may also file their concerns through Ethics Point. Reports to Ethics Point can be made online or toll-free at 866-294-8692. Timely reporting is essential to protect the animals involved and to aid the investigation of the allegations.

• OSU-CHS Animal Welfare Concerns Policy

There are various sources of information you can consult with regard to working with animals in research, teaching, and testing activities. One very good source is the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, more commonly referred to as the Guide. The purpose of the Guide is to assist institutions in caring for and using animals in ways judged to be scientifically, technically, and humanely appropriate. The Guide is also intended to assist investigators in fulfilling their obligation to plan and conduct animal activities in accord with the highest scientific, humane, and ethical principles.

 

The Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) has created a brochure intended to communicate responsibilities to principle investigators. "What Investigators Need to Know About the Use of Animals" is a succinct resource that allows individuals to quickly grasp the main expectations and requirements of animal care and use.  

Numerous laws, policies, and regulations govern the use of animals in research, teaching, and testing. The federal government has provided guidance in many areas.

• Animal Welfare Act and Regulations
• AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals: 2020 Edition
• U.S. Government Principles for the Utilization and Care of Vertebrate Animals Used in Testing, Research, and Training
• Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (NIH)
• Office of Animal Care and Use (NIH)
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals

• According to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Guidebook, there is increasing public interest in exploring alternatives to the use of animals in research and testing. IACUCs regularly consider the question, "Is there an alternative to using live animals in this proposal?" Some suggest that the only acceptable alternatives are those that completely replace animals, while others have less restrictive definitions. The definition of alternatives that allows a degree of common understanding are referred to as the three "Rs"- replacement, refinement, and reduction.

  • Here is a List of Alternatives Databases which can be accessed from the OSU CHS Medical Library
  • Guidance for Alternatives Literature Searching

The Post-Approval Monitor role ensures compliance with federal regulations, approved ACUPs, and standard operating procedures at OSU Center for Health Sciences. It provides assurance to regulatory agencies and supports research, testing, and teaching endeavors at OSU CHS. Our goal is to enhance understanding of regulatory standards and promote scientific and academic excellence at OSU CHS.

• Program Description
• Checklist

Enroll in the Occupational Health and Safety Program here.

Compassion fatigue is a broadly defined concept that can include emotional, physical, and spiritual distress in those providing care to another. It is associated with caregiving where people or animals are experiencing significant emotional or physical  pain and suffering.

Learn more on the Compassion Fatigue page