11 minute read
Inside the IACUC
Without a doubt, the laboratory animal research community recognizes the tremendous value of training for IACUC Committee members and administrators. Training frequency, methodology, topics, and other details are often discussed during AAALAC site visits, regulatory visits, and animal welfare audits of animal care and use programs. What, then, can an IACUC do to ensure that training for these individuals is tracked and documented? In this issue of Laboratory Animal Science Professional, two members of the IACUC Office at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center discuss their rigorous process for identifying external training opportunities, creating internal training sessions for IACUC, and documenting training for IACUC members and administrators. Their processes provide an auditable overview of all training provided, including training topics and venues, as well as attendance. This approach to training oversight provides numerous benefits. For example, the accessibility and availability of training documentation that can be provided to internal administrators, external auditors and AAALAC site visitors is made more efficient. As well, the ability to provide the information for administrators renewing their PRIM&R’s Certified Professional in IACUC Administration (CPIA) designation, as well as for veterinary staff requiring continuing education units to various licensing boards, is another professional advantage. Overall, we think that this is a win-win situation, and you will too! Enjoy!
Stacy Pritt, DVM, MS, MBA, CPIA, CHRC, DACAW, is the Associate Vice President of Research Support & Regulatory Management at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX.
F. Claire Hankenson, DVM, MS, DACLAM, is the Associate Vice Provost for Research and Attending Veterinarian and Executive Director, University Laboratory Animal Resources, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA.
As the World Turns: Identifying and Documenting Continuing Education for IACUC Committee Members and Staff
By Julia Wilkerson, PhD, and Kathryn Cavanaugh, BS, CPIA
Institutional Animal Use and Care Committees (IACUC) are charged with oversight of an organization’s animal care and use program by the Public Health Service (PHS) Policy on the Humane Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals3 and the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal
Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations1. These regulations also highlight the need to train IACUC members on their expected duties and engage them through continuing education efforts. Specifically, according to the Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals (Guide)2, the IACUC is responsible for training its members so they are fully prepared to execute their tasks of assessing their organization’s animal care and use program. It is expected that “ongoing opportunities to enhance their understanding of animal care and use in science should also be provided” 2 (p17). Similarly, the Animal
Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations1 published by USDA’s Animal and
Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), also known as the “Blue Book”, section 2143 (b)(1), states that “… members shall possess sufficient ability to assess animal care, treatment, and practices in experimental research as determined by the needs of the research facility and shall represent society’s concerns regarding the welfare of animal subjects used at such facility”1. Further credence to the importance of ongoing training of IACUC members is demonstrated by institutional accreditation from AAALAC International, which uses the Guide to set a specific standard for operation and function of animal care and use programs.
With the constant evolution of laboratory animal science and medicine, including its associated guidelines and regulations, animal care and use programs should be pro-active in offering opportunities to assist committee members with program oversight. In this column, we will describe how the IACUC Office at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) identifies and documents the participation of IACUC members and staff in continuing education opportunities. The prioritization of continuing education (CE) in our animal care and use program fosters professional development, encourages active group discussion on a variety of animal-related topics, and promotes group cohesiveness for support and delivery of best practices in animal welfare.
One of the IACUC Office’s goals at UTSW is to pro-actively identify CE opportunities for members and professional staff. We use announcements and articles published by regulatory agencies, biomedical research support groups, professional societies and IACUC administrator groups (e.g. Yammer), to inventory training opportunities. If webinars, conferences, or meetings offered by organizations outside of UTSW are identified, these may be communicated directly to IACUC members and staff, with follow-up communication as described below.
Additionally, the IACUC Office prepares CE presentations for monthly IACUC meeting participants. These presentations are a standing item in our IACUC meeting agenda and may cover relevant case studies, examples of protocol review scenarios, or changes in federal policies or guidance documents that may impact our institution. Rather than present this information didactically, we have
IACUC Members
Scientist Veterinarian Nonscientist Non-Institution Member 5th IACUC member
Alternate IACUC Members
Alternate Member #1
Guests of the IACUC
IACUC Staff #1 X IACUC Staff #2 X
Date
Webinar Host: Title (IACUC Staff-only Example)
Date
Discussion Topic held at Convened IACUC meeting
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Figure 1. Documentation of IACUC Participation for Continuing Education Events. The constitution of IACUC members follows OLAW requirements.
found that an active-learning format with open-ended questions facilitates group interaction and discussion.
For the past several years, our IACUC Office has utilized a focused structure for CE documentation by designating a staff member to actively document participation in CE for IACUC members and IACUC Office staff. Assigning this role to a specific Office staff member removes the burden of self-documentation so that research support resources may be more efficiently utilized. For IACUC administrators, documentation of CE takes on an additional purpose, as it is a crucial part of obtaining and maintaining CPIA (Certified Professional in IACUC Administration) certification, a quality standard offered by the nonprofit Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R). In lieu of retaking the exam, recertification may be achieved through the completion of continuing education requirements. Therefore, accurate documentation of administrator participation in eligible CE events is of distinct importance.
Our designated staff member captures participation in CE for IACUC members and professional staff using an intradepartmental spreadsheet that lists IACUC members, alternate members, and guests, as well as the date and title of each CE presentation (Figure 1). By creating specific tabs labeled by fiscal year within the spreadsheet, multiple years of CE training may be easily catalogued for review, which helps to prevent the presentation of duplicative topics at convened IACUC meetings and provides a comprehensive review document for AAALAC and other auditors that visit the institution. In addition, the CE designee also maintains a digital document that exclusively catalogues CE events external to IACUC meetings, which allows professional staff to quickly and easily identify events that may be applied towards CPIA recertification. Indeed, each staff member of our IACUC Office that has been eligible for CPIA recertification has successfully moved through the process without needing to retake the certification exam.
Of final note, our office also implements a more personal touch for CE events held outside of convened IACUC meetings. Our CE designee utilizes a digital calendar to track these external CE events and after the event has concluded , reaches out to staff and IACUC members via email to query attendance. CE participation may be captured by a certificate of attendance from the CE event or with a digital document containing event details and listing all IACUC member and staff attendees (Figure 2). As many of these external CE events are held online and the majority of our Office staff work remotely, this unique outreach promotes group engagement and a sense of community.
Webinar
Title: Animal Care Date: September 30, 2022 Time: 12:00pm – 1:00pm CDT Presenter(s): Dr. Iman X. Pert
Name Kathryn Cavanaugh Signature
Julia Wilkerson
Figure 2. Documentation of IACUC Participation for externally held Continuing Education Events, e.g., webinars.
As shown in Figure 3, our structured CE identification and documentation process benefits IACUC members and professional staff alike. Our Office identifies opportunities for continuing education for IACUC members and staff by utilizing multiple resources. CE participation is documented and confirmed using attendance logs for convened IACUC meetings or staff-attended CE events. By designating a point person in our Office to diligently and proactively document CE training events, we have eliminated or lightened the workload for the majority of IACUC members and staff, while ensuring that documentation is easily
Condensed
Continuing Education Event Identification
Designated IACUC Staff
Convened IACUC Meeting
Meeting Attendance Documented
Digital Archiving of Attendance Other CE Events
Follow-up by Designated IACUC Staff
Meeting Attendance Documented accessible when needed. In our experience, this has led to increased office efficiency and productivity, benefitting not only the workforce, but the institution as well.
Julia Wilkerson, PhD, is a Regulatory Analyst at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX Kathryn Cavanaugh, BS, CPIA, is the Assistant Director of the IACUC and SCRO at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX
REFERENCES: 1. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. United States Department of Agriculture. Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_welfare/ downloads/AC_BlueBook_AWA_508_comp_version.pdf 2. Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. 2011. Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. 8th Ed. Washington DC; National Academy Press. 3. Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. National Institutes of Health. Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Bethesda, MD. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://olaw.nih.gov/sites/default/ files/PHSPolicyLabAnimals.pdf
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Product Stability Defines the Shelf Life of LabDiet®: Studies under Real-world Conditions
Nutritional quality of animal feed degrades over time, even under ideal storage conditions. Scientists and medical researchers are rightly concerned about animal food quality— valid experimental results depend on product consistency. However, reliance on a customary 180-day shelf life for LabDiet® products is overly cautious, costly, and wasteful.
Vitamins are the most sensitive nutrients. Extensive research of LabDiet® products under real-world conditions demonstrates vitamin quality is sustained over longer periods, even beyond 12 months.
Background
Caution of lab animal professionals derives from research conducted decades ago. The most recent edition of Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals summarizes this, stating: “Most natural-ingredient, dry laboratory animal diets stored properly can be used up to 6 months after manufacture.”
Importantly, the Guide continues with, “food storage time should be reduced to the lowest practical period and the manufacturers’ recommendations considered.”
Previous research showed LabDiet® products are nutritionally complete up to 18 months from the date of manufacture (DOM) when stored under recommended temperature (<72⁰F/21⁰C) and relative humidity (RH; ≤ 50%).
What about long-term exposure to real-world conditions?
Real-World Results
Global distribution involves ocean freight with bags packed in uninsulated steel shipping containers exposed to elements for weeks, sometimes months. Once in-country additional delays, unpredictable transportation, and variable storage conditions are realistic. Comprehensive studies of vitamin stability in LabDiet® products were performed on shipments to subtropical Taiwan and the temperate UK.
Pacific transit: During the 50-day journey from US to Taiwan, temperature and humidity levels exceeded recommendations by up to 20⁰F and 20% RH (pictured to the right). After arrival, the Certified LabDiet® Dealer stored diets under recommended conditions.
Atlantic transit: During the ~25 day journey to the UK, products were also exposed to great temperature and humidity variation. Unlike in Taiwan, continued storage conditions were variable.
Degradation of labile vitamins A and E were greater in the Taiwan study. Thiamin loss was higher in the UK study. Regardless of loss observed, all diets continued to meet or exceed minimum nutrient requirements of the animals at the end of the 18 or 24 month testing periods.
Formulated for Longer Shelf Life in the Real World
LabDiet® formulates to meet or safely exceed animal requirements, despite suboptimal transportation and storage conditions. Results of these, and other studies illustrate LabDiet® products are nutritionally sound even when exposed to conditions that deviate beyond normal.
Using this proven safety margin, LabDiet® assures an expiration date for standard products at 9 months from DOM and 12 months from DOM for all irradiated diets. LabDiet® supports facilities adopting a similar “internal shelf life” protocol to dramatically reduce facility costs and product waste while assuring the integrity of lab animal nutrition to support research.
For more information about the studies summarized above, including full citations, as well as nutrient stability after exposure to extreme temperature and humidity in the short-term, visit https://www.labdiet.com/ ProductStability/index.html or contact your LabDiet® representative.
