Tasks, Structure and Modes of Operation

Tasks

• To formulate the principles, policy and proper rules for the use of experimental animals at the Institute.

• To formulate and suggest the instructions and practical guidelines for carrying out the principles, policy and proper rules for the use of experimental animals at the Institute.

• To assure that experiments in animals at the Weizmann Institute comply with:
  1. The Israel Animal Welfare Law 1994
  2. Regulations of the National Council for Experiments in Animals
  3. Regulations of the USA Public Health Service and NIH guidelines
  4. Internal regulations of The Weizmann Institute

The Weizmann IACUC reviews only applications for experiments in animals that are part of research of the Weizmann Institute, submitted by principal investigators from Weizmann, for experiments conducted under direct monitoring of the Weizmann IACUC and the Department of Veterinary Resources.

IACUC membership

Total of 11 members reflecting a spectrum of backgrounds and expertise:

    1 Weizmann, Head of the committee, scientist involved in animal experiments
    1 Weizmann, Attending Veterinarian, Head of the Department of Veterinary Resources
    1 Weizmann, Veterinarian, Pathologist
    4 Weizmann, scientists involved in animal experiments
    1 Weizmann, scientist not involved in animal experiments
    1 Weizmann, non-scientist, legal advisor
    1 External member, non-scientist
    1 External member, Veterinarian

Conflict of Interest Policy

All IACUC members must declare that they have no commercial or other interest or involvement of any type with any of the animal suppliers or animal-related services providers to the Institute, and, furthermore, that they have no interest of whatever kind or nature, other than purely scientific, in any result emanating from experiments discussed at IACUC.

In addition, committee members must declare conflict of interest if they are involved in specific studies reviewed by the committee, and remove themselves from all discussion of those applications.

Review criteria (Adapted from the NRC Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals)

• Justification:
  • rationale and purpose of the proposed use of animals (scientific merit of the study)
  • justification of the species and number of animals requested; whenever possible, the number of animals requested should be justified statistically
  • availability or appropriateness of the use of less-invasive procedures, other species, isolated organ preparation, cell or tissue culture, or computer simulation ("Alternatives")
  • unnecessary duplication of experiments; updated literature search requested
• Detailed experimental procedure:
  • appropriate sedation, analgesia, and anesthesia
  • conduct of multiple major operative procedures.
  • criteria and process for timely intervention, removal of animals from a study, or euthanasia if painful or stressful outcomes are anticipated
  • postprocedure care
  • method of euthanasia or disposition of animal
• Additional review criteria:
  • adequacy of training and experience of personnel in the procedures used
  • unusual housing and husbandry requirements
  • safety of working environment for personnel, safety for other lab animals

Review Process

• Submission: Applications are submitted electronically, and are sent to all committee members.
• Review:All committee members are invited to participate in the discussion and can view all comments. Any committee member can also request discussion in the next IACUC committee meeting. If no such request is made, review and discussion are electronic, and open for all committee members. No decision is made without the written review of a minimum of 3 designated reviewers of which at least one is a Veterinarian and at least one is a scientist.
• Decisions: IACUC decisions are based on the comments from all committee members, and are generally by consensus. In rare cases, when consensus cannot be reached after revision(s) of the applications, decision is made by vote. Decision by vote requires majority of attending members at a quorate committee meeting, or by majority of all members if done by electronic discussion.

Review Statistics

IACUC monitoring and program oversight

• Monitoring animal use (orders and maintenance)
• Addressing concerns on animal welfare
• Monitoring the animal care facilities (site visits)