About IACUC

Mission Statement:

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversees the University’s animal care and use program and is responsible for reviewing all animal care applications using vertebrate animals, ensuring compliance with federal animal welfare regulations, inspecting animal facilities and investigator laboratories, investigating animal concerns, and overseeing training and educational programs.

Overview:

In the US, the use of live vertebrate animals in research and educational programs must comply with the Public Health Service (PHS) policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (if the institution receives NIH funding) and the Animal Welfare Act and the regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) if the institution works with USDA-regulated species.

To comply with these policies and regulations, every research institution must constitute an IACUC whose membership is representative of the entire institution and which includes a non-scientist member as well as a non-affiliated representative who has no association with the institution. The UNC IACUC reports to Institutional Official Penny Gordon-Larsen, who is the Vice Chancellor for Research.

Faculty, who conduct research or educational programs using live vertebrate animals, are required to submit to the IACUC an application describing their proposed research.  The information requested in the application is dictated by federal, state, and institutional policies, standards, and regulations. The requested information is essential for the IACUC to determine whether the proposed use animals is justified, humane, and complies with existing policies and regulations.  Before the described activities and any live vertebrate animal work can begin, the IACUC must review and approve the application.