SCIENTIFIC MERIT REVIEW

1. Scientific Merit Review

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) does not review proposals for scientific merit, but does require that each proposal be reviewed and approved for scientific merit before IACUC approval is given for animals to be used. This review may be conducted by the Departmental Review Committee (DRC) of the Principal Investigator (PI), the NIH or one of the other agencies on the List of Funding Agencies That Conduct Acceptable Scientific Merit Review. Full Committee applications must include documentation of current scientific merit review and approval from one of the listed agencies or from the appropriate DRC.

DRC Review: If a Departmental Review Committee provides the scientific merit review, the PI must document this by submitting a form to the IACUC which includes signatures from three departmental review committee members. The DRC may use the Scientific Merit Review Form recommended by the IACUC, or an adaptation thereof, as long as the three signatures are included. To obtain information on DRC application and review, contact your department chair or the IACUC office.

NIH Review: If the proposal has been submitted to the NIH and scientific review is pending, the PI can: 1) submit the application "as is" for review by IACUC, but approval to release animals will not be granted until the results of NIH review are received in the IACUC office; or 2) obtain DRC approval and submit that documentation with the application for IACUC review.

IACUC List of Funding Agencies That Conduct Acceptable Scientific Merit Review: To propose adding a funding agency to the IACUC List of Funding Agencies That Conduct Acceptable Scientific Merit Review, send the agency name (and address, if available) by email to the IACUC office.