University of michigan
Progress Report
March 24, 2016

On Monday, March 14, 150+ members of the U-M animal research community joined President Mark Schlissel, Vice President for Research Jack Hu, and the entire Animal Care & Use Leadership team to learn about the path to long-term, sustained excellence in animal care and use at the University.
 
President Schlissel opened the event by highlighting
the critical role that responsible research plays in the University's research mission. "We have an ethical obligation to the humane treatment of animals in our research. Many in the public who support our work care deeply about this, and the accrediting agencies play a key role in our ability to conduct research, giving the public and our funding agencies confidence that we're living up to our own and to our society's ethical standards."
 
"The goal here," he concluded, "is to develop and implement, in all parts of the University, a best-in-class set of policies and practices that enable faculty to continue to perform outstanding research, while adhering to the highest standards for animal welfare."
 
After the President's opening remarks, Dr. Hu underscored the importance of taking a holistic approach to re-defining what it means to have a pre-eminent animal research program, and how everyone must make a commitment to achieving these goals.

Other featured programmatic updates included: 
  • Increased rigor of IACUC review, post-approval monitoring, and semi-annual inspections that may lead to additional IACUC actions 
  • Culture shifts leading to stronger engagement from Animal Care & Use Program leadership, enhancements to training and education for all faculty and staff involved in animal research, and continuous improvement metrics tracked by PI, department, school, and problem type
  • Ongoing consolidation and integration of animal husbandry and facility oversight to ULAM 
Specific programmatic updates to policies and procedures, including upcoming deadlines to be aware of, are outlined in the announcements below.
 
For your convenience, the entire presentation was recorded and archived, and is available for viewing here. Please note: valid Level-1 (kerberos) U-M login credentials are required to access the recording.

A separate copy of the presentation slides is also available in the archive. 

Latest Animal Care & Use Program Activities:
Refined Policies and Procedures
Several polices and procedures have recently been refined and introduced. Compliance with the new requirements outlined below is required by Friday, April 15. These include:
 
Analgesic requirements:
  • New simplified, unified, minimum requirements
    consistent for all species
  • Protocols are being reviewed and will be revised
  • PIs will be notified when an amendment to update their protocol has been generated
Aseptic surgical practices:
Surgical record retention:
If you have questions or concerns about these or other policies and procedures, please contact ULAM-QUESTIONS@umich.edu or call (734) 764-0277.
IACUC Holds Mini Retreat
The IACUC recently held a mini retreat to re-visit committee member roles and responsibilities and to focus on updated training for protocol review(s) to increase both rigor and engagement. As part of the retreat, the IACUC will begin preparing a final report to the Institutional Official that reviews and evaluates the U-M's Animal Care & Use Program. 
ULAM and MISMR Partner
for First Enrichment Symposium
Led by the ULAM Enrichment Committee and ULAM faculty member and Associate Attending Veterinarian Jennifer Lofgren, the Michigan Society for Medical Research (MISMR) held its first annual MISMR Science of Enrichment Symposium on Wednesday, March 23 at the Ann Arbor Regent Hotel.

Over 100 attendees from 18 different institutions representing the state(s) of Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio, came to network and learn more about the emerging science of environmental enrichment for animals used in biomedical research.

The University of Michigan is home to one of the country's only Refinement and Enrichment Advancements Laboratories (REAL). Learn more about REAL's work here or CLICK HERE
to learn more about MISMR.
Animal Research Spotlight
Children with brain cancer could benefit from a novel approach being developed by U-M scientists that will make it easier and faster to test new treatments. The team describes how they developed the brain tumor model in mice in a new paper published in Science Translational Medicine. Read more here.
For more information about the Animal Care & Use Program at the University of Michigan,
CLICK HERE.
Our mission in the Animal Care & Use Office is to support the Institutional Care
& Use of Animals Committee, fostering sustained excellence in animal care and use in scientific research and education, and promoting the philosophy that the highest animal welfare standards are necessary for impactful science.