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The Duke animal care & use program is structured according to federal law (9th Code of Federal Regulations [9CFR]) and university policy. Click each section to learn more about the roles each play in assuring proper animal care and use at Duke:
The Regulators / Accreditors / Associations:
 The
U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarians visit Duke on an unannounced basis to assure our animals are being maintained in an appropriate manner.
 The
Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International (AAALAC) has accredited our university as meeting or exceeding all accepted standards for animal care as prescribed in the federal law, Public Health Service Policy, the National Research Council's "Guide for the Care & Use of Laboratory Animals," and the "Guide for the Care & Use of Agricultural Animals."
 Duke is a member of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, which serves as a professional training resource, providing progressive training for humane care and compassionate use of animals in a research and teaching setting .
 The Duke Animal Care Program supports the efforts of the National Association for Biomedical Research as they seek to educate and encourage reasonable legislation for the support of animals and animal based research.
The Leadership:
C.E.O.: The President is the Chief Executive Officer of this animal care and use program.
I.O.: This program has two I.O.s.
Daily Program Management: The Vice Dean for Research
Support (School of Medicine) provides daily program oversight and support and serves as the Dean's representative for animal activities at Duke.
Attending Veterinarian: The Director, Division of Laboratory Animal Resources serves as the Attending Veterinarian for this program, with responsibility for animal care, facility operations, and procedure support. The IACUC Chairperson, the Attending Veterinarian, and the Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance work together to maintain program integrity. The Attending Veterinarian has direct program authority for activities involving animal care, welfare, environment, enrichment, analgesia, anesthesia, and euthanasia [as defined by federal law].
Institutional Veterinarian: The Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance serves as the institutional veterinarian for this program, with responsibility for regulatory oversight, compliance, and training. for the institution. The IACUC Chairperson, the Attending Veterinarian, and the Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance work together to maintain program integrity.
IACUC: The Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee is the
President's representative body that approves animal use, oversees the program of animal care & use, assures that all animal users are adequately trained and that training is offered by the institution, and provides assurance of adherence to approved applications. The IACUC Chairperson, the Attending Veterinarian, and the Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance work together to maintain program integrity.
The IACUC:
The Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) is a standing committee of Duke, whose composition and responsibilities are mandated by the Animal Welfare Act (Public Law 98-198).
By law, the IACUC must be composed of, at a minimum, three members: a Chairperson, a veterinarian with training or experience in laboratory animal medicine, and a non-affiliated member. A Committee of this size would not be able to accomplish the numerous regulatory tasks required of the Committee. To share the responsibility as well as the work load of the Committee, The Duke IACUC is composed of numerous voting members:
The Duke IACUC utilizes consultants, when required, for specific protocol review. The consultant may offer opinions and advice, but may not vote on any application for use.
According to the 9th Code of federal Regulations, it is the responsibility of the Chief Executive Officer of the institution (in our case, the Chancellor) to appoint all members of the IACUC, and the Institutional Official. All IACUC minutes and reports are reviewed and signed by the Institutional Official, and forwarded to the CEO for review.
As a decision making body of Duke, the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) ensures that all animals in experimental research are used appropriately and treated in accordance with the highest standards of humane care. The Office of Animal Welfare Assurance works under the authority of the IACUC to investigate and review concerns with animal use activities.
The IACUC represents society's concerns regarding the welfare of animal subjects used... and is expected to be the conscience for the institute on animal welfare concerns.
The IACUC is responsible for keeping abreast of changes in animal use legislation and guidelines and recommending modifications to the institution's program to ensure that research and the animal use program fully comply with the letter and spirit of the law.
The IACUC is not a scientific review group, per se. All projects should have received appropriate, mission related, and scientifically sound reviews (by the Department Chairperson) prior to reaching the IACUC. However, humane treatment and scientific methodology are closely related and often inseparable concepts. Therefore, the Committee may discuss and review science only as it relates specifically to animal use.
While the IACUC has numerous responsibilities in terms of program oversight, the duty most identified with the IACUC is protocol review. The IACUC conducts a thorough and comprehensive review of all new proposals and amendments to existing protocols.
All continuing protocols also receive annual review to ensure that no significant deviations from established and approved procedures have occurred. All principal investigators are required to complete an annual review report as part of this process.
When reviewing protocols, the IACUC ensures that:
all procedures involving animals will avoid or minimize pain and distress to the animal (s);
the principal investigator has considered alternatives to procedures that cause more than momentary pain or distress to the animals;
the principal investigator has provided written assurance that the protocol proposed does not unnecessarily duplicate previous experiments;
appropriate anesthetics and analgesics are used when necessary;
personnel are properly trained to perform the proposed procedures;
activities that involve surgery provide for appropriate pre-operative and post-operative care and that aseptic practices are followed; and
that methods of euthanasia are consistent with methods set forth by the American Veterinary Medical Association's Panel on Euthanasia.
The IACUC is required to inspect, at least once every six months, the research institute's animal facilities, including animal study areas, which are defined as any area in which animal work is performed. Not only is the physical facility inspected, such as animal housing and facility maintenance, but the entire animal program is reviewed. This involves reviewing animal health records, observing surgery, reviewing post-operative records, and reviewing the biosafety, chemical safety, radiation safety, and occupational health program, as well as all USDA inspections, AAALAC program reviews and assessments; deficiencies, if noted, and responses to those deficiencies in order to ensure compliance with the Animal Welfare Act, Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
The IACUC makes a written report of its findings, which must be signed by a majority of committee members and must include minority views, if these views are expressed during the program inspection. This report is submitted to the IO / CEO. The results of these reviews are also transmitted to individual Care Faculty Managers with recommendations or suggestions for improvement or corrections of noted deficiencies and time frames for response for correction are given with each individual review. Problem areas not satisfactorily resolved by this communication mechanism are subsequently transmitted (with recommendations) to the Institutional Official for ultimate resolution. In the case of regulated species, uncorrected deficiencies may also be reported to the USDA.
The IACUC reviews and investigates, if necessary, any concerns involving the care and use of animals at the research institute resulting from complaints or reports of noncompliance. The IACUC has the authority to suspend an activity that it previously approved if it determines that the activity is not being conducted in accordance with the description provided by the investigator in his/her protocol.
The Research Staff:
The research staff includes scientists and laboratory technicians who are involved in animal facilitated biomedical research in the following areas: infectious disease; human systems technology; surgery; and medicine.
Animal based research is only one investigative tool of the university's biomedical research mission. Other research tools used by our scientists include: research with human subjects (clinical trials), epidemiology, computer modeling, and field studies.
Many Duke scientists are world renown in their areas of research.
The Veterinary Staff (DLAR & OAWA):
The Duke veterinary staff are licensed graduate veterinarians (e.g. they attended and graduated from accredited United States veterinary schools). Upon graduation from veterinary school, they worked in traditional, clinical animal medicine settings before choosing the challenging veterinary specialty of Laboratory Animal Medicine. Duke veterinarians are members of the DLAR (Division of Laboratory Animal Resources) or OAWA (Office of Animal Welfare Assurance). All Duke veterinarians serve as the institution representatives to ensure animal care is appropriate for the species.
Duke Veterinarians:
manage animal care and use programs,
assure humane care of the animals,
train technicians in animal related techniques, and
provide university researchers with expertise in the special medical and husbandry needs of research animals, ranging from mice to monkeys.
The Directors of DLAR and OAWA are board certified with the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, a specialty recognized by the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The Veterinary Technicians:
Veterinary Technicians are individuals who have completed their technical training, and have passed state certification to become licensed veterinary technicians.
The Veterinary Technicians are accomplished in a variety of technical procedures, and employ their expertise to assist veterinarians and researchers in animal care & use. Contact the Operations Manager if you wish to employ the skills of a technician in your study.
The Veterinary Technicians are responsible for providing the nursing care for post-procedural laboratory animals, and assuring humane care is indeed not simply perception, but also is reality (e.g. husbandry, enrichment, socialization).
The Veterinary Technicians continue their professional growth through a variety of different training programs and many hold advanced certification from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS).
The Animal Care Staff:
The Animal Care Staff is comprised of personnel who have special training in animal husbandry. Many hold certification from the
American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS).
The Animal Care Staff is responsible for meeting the special dietary and housing requirements for each unique species of animal used in research.
The Animal Care Staff is also responsible for other program requirements (e.g. sanitation of the animal facility, maintenance of equipment, environment enrichment of animals).
The Animal Care Staff are extensions of the research team, assuring that effective research continues unabated over nights and week-ends, through consistent high quality care.
The Research Support Staff:
The research support staff is comprised of a very dedicated group of individuals who provide program support for the advancement of medical knowledge.
Included in this group are those that facilitate and track the regulatory, administrative, quality assurance and reporting requirements; those that facilitate training and education of personnel; and those that provide logistical and supply support.
Other support staff include librarians, statisticians, pathologists, and computer experts.
The Animals:
The animals used in biomedical research at Duke include fish, amphibians, mice, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, pigs, sheep, and monkeys.
All animals are procured from USDA licensed vendors (Class A or Class B) or an equivalent source when USDA licensing is not appropriate (farm livestock), and all animals used are purposely bred for biomedical research.
From the very moment they arrive at Duke, the animals are under the constant care and supervision of the university veterinary staff and the animal care staff.
The food and water provided to the animals is procured, stored and monitored to ensure freshness and optimal nutritional value. As an example, guinea pig feed is thrown away if it is over 90 days from date of manufacture.
The animals are also housed in special caging that is designed to meet all of their species specific environmental and sanitation requirements. The cages keep the animals clean and comfortable. The caging allows ample space for mobility and proper social interaction.
The animals are group housed, unless restricted due to specific medical treatment prescribed by one of our veterinarians (e.g. antibiotics for a specific infection which requires the animal be held in a single cage for a period of a few days). All of our research animals have routine human interaction (e.g. grooming, play), constant species specific social contact (e.g. cage mate grooming, cage mate play), adequate exercise, and are provided with toys and other devices to enrich their environments.
DLAR Advisory Committee (DAC):
The Duke DAC provides counsel and advice to the Director, DLAR and serves as an ombudsman for unresolved faculty disagreements with the care & use program. While not having decision making ability, the DAC does work to build bridges of understanding and assist both sides of the disagreement to an acceptable compromise position.
The DAC advises the Director, Division of Laboratory Animal Resources on care & use issues.
The DAC advises the IACUC on care & use issues.
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