Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Rensselaer is responsible, under federal law, for the appropriate performance of all research and teaching activities that involve the use of vertebrate animals - mammals, fish, birds, amphibians and reptiles.

The NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare strictly regulates care and use of animals for research and teaching. All animal research in the USA should follow the guidelines for animal care and use that are described in the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” (1996 edition; Institute for Laboratory Animal Resources, National Research Council).

The federal mandate reads: “Each institution which falls under authority of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA; protects all mammals beyond but not including rodents) and/or receives PHS support for research and teaching involving laboratory animals must operate a program with clear lines of authority and responsibility, a properly functioning Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), procedures for self-monitoring, adequate veterinary care, a program of occupational health, sound animal husbandry practices and appropriate maintenance of facilities for housing animals.”