The Beacon Volume 6, Issue 1

January 2021 Newsletter

• 2021 IACUC Deadline and Meeting Dates
• Update on IACUC and OARS “Business as Usual”
• Discontinuing Regulatory Services and DoRC Email Accounts
• New Research Liaison Department Assignments
• Lab-Based Training Logs
• Update to Anesthetic Vaporizer Servicing
• Policy Updates/December

2021 IACUC Deadlines and Meeting Dates

Investigators are encouraged to submit protocols that are due for 3-year renewal early to allow time for pre-review of the protocol by the research liaisons and veterinarians. This will help expedite the review and approval of the protocol. Should you have any questions, please contact OARS at iacuc@yale.edu.

Update on IACUC and OARS “Business as Usual”

As the University’s response to the spread of COVID-19 continues to evolve, so does the IACUC and OARS management of the institution’s regulatory responsibilities.

A collaborative decision between YARC and the IACUC has resulted in ceasing YARC self-assessments of YARC facilities with January 2021 inspections. The IACUC has extended laboratory self-assessments through March 2021 and will reassess how to move forward at the April IACUC meeting. The IACUC and OARS continue to look for safe ways to return to the normal inspection process. You all have done an amazing job with this. Thank you!

OARS will notify PIs and lab managers at the beginning of each month that a lab assessment is due. Please use the Yale Laboratory Self-Evaluation Fillable Checklist Form (must be logged into CAS) for guidance. Please send the completed checklists with all findings and plan for correction to iacucinspects@yale.edu.

This initiative is limited to rodents, aquatics, and other non-USDA-covered species. Inspections of USDA-covered species will continue to be conducted by the IACUC.

Discontinuing Regulatory Services and DoRC Email Accounts

The Regulatory Services (regulatory.services@yale.edu) and the Division of Research Congruency (dorc@yale.edu) e-mail accounts will be phased out in the first quarter of 2021. This change will provide for more timely triaging of email requests, thus better serving the Yale animal research faculty and staff. All future requests/inquiries should be sent directly to the OARS e-mail address at iacuc@yale.edu. Please ensure that the subject line clearly indicates the intent and urgency of the inquiry.

New Research Liaison Department Assignments

Due to a few recent staff changes (Shrilatha Balakrishna promoted to Assistant Director and Matt Seager taking a research position at the NIH), we have made minor changes to the department assignments for each research liaison. With a few exceptions (redistributing Shri Balakrishna’s department assignments), most departments will keep either their protocol liaison or compliance specialist. Please see The Beacon, Volume 5, Issue #1, for the introduction to this plan. Many of you have already been contacted by your new research liaison for those departments that have changed. The new department assignments are listed below and will be followed from this point on.

Lab-Based Training Logs

The lab-based training logs are intended to be used by PIs or their designees to document training performed by research personnel.

Please ensure that training requirements for any PQF approved on or after April 1st, 2020, are fulfilled and documented on the lab-based training log. We will be collecting and archiving the logs in early 2021 to confirm that training has been completed and to be able to “credit” current research staff with training competencies fulfilled by previous training. Without these lab-based training logs, additional “new” training may be required in order to complete the new training competencies.

If you do not have a training template, please contact OARS at IACUC@yale.edu and your inquiry will be directed to the appropriate OARS staff member. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Layne Ochman (layne.ochman@yale.edu) or Troy Hallman directly (troy.hallman@yale.edu).

Update to Anesthetic Vaporizer Servicing

The IACUC’s Anesthetic Vaporizer and Ventilator Maintenance Policy ensure the proper functioning of anesthetic machines to provide appropriate anesthesia to research animals and limit exposure to waste gases to research personnel. Vaporizers that do not receive periodic service have the potential to leak anesthetic gases, which poses an occupational health risk to personnel, as well as delivering an incorrect dose to the animals. As such, the IACUC have required calibration at least once every 12 months with appropriate documentation.

Recognizing the impact of the restrictions for contractors/service providers, the IACUC had authorized an extension of the deadline for servicing vaporizers, that appear to be functioning correctly, through 2020. IACUC re-assessed the requirement for annual servicing at the January 13th IACUC meeting and granted an extension through June 2021. OARS will be following up with labs in July and August to assure completed calibration certification for any vaporizers that are due, or overdue, for servicing.

Policy Updates/December

Euthanasia Policy ^Revised

REMINDER: For CO2 euthanasia, the AVMA now requires appropriate exposure times and a flow meter to ensure gradual displacement of 30% to 70% of the chamber volume/min. This requirement was previously 10% to 30% of the chamber volume/min.

• Please ensure that lab-owned systems have been recalibrated and lab practices and flow meter instructions have been updated.
• NIH-OLAW considers improper euthanasia to be a serious non-compliance and any deviation from 30-70% flow rate in lab rodents may need to be reported to the NIH.

The policy was updated to reflect changes to the new 2020 AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals.

• An explanation regarding the language in the guidelines was added for clarity.
  • The AVMA states, “Once euthanasia has been carried out, death must be carefully verified” (p. 6). The AVMA 2020 guidelines use a variety of terms to determine if an animal is dead, e.g., confirm, validate, ensure, verify, etc. Regardless of the terminology, all result in a euthanized/dead animal. To avoid confusion between the nuances of each term, this policy will use the term “confirm” to determine if an animal is dead.
  • Death must be confirmed by examining the animal for cessation of vital signs or by removal of vital organs. For example, the inability to detect respiratory sounds by auscultation or observe respiratory movements AND inability to detect heartbeat by auscultation, palpation, or ECG for at least 30 seconds.
• A section describing “Disposal Requirements” was added.

Only after death is confirmed may the carcass be disposed. Once confirmed, animals must be properly disposed in a sealed plastic bag or species-appropriate container. BL2 or BL3 animals must be deposited in the appropriate receptacle.

As always, please contact OARS (iacuc@yale.edu) with any questions, suggestions or concerns.
Stay safe everyone!
~OARS Team