Navigator Newsletter-July 2023

Thank You

AAALAC International performed a site visit of the UW’s animal care and use program between June 22 and June 30.

We thank you all for your hard work preparing for this site visit, and for your dedication to the responsible and humane use of animals in research and teaching. Your dedication was recognized by the site visitors, who gave commendations to many of our staff and researchers.

AAALAC International has provided preliminary findings, including identifying some areas for improvement. The official findings will be issued this fall. OAW and its partner units look forward to working together and working with you, to make our program even stronger.

Face Mask Requirement Changes

Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM) has updated the mask requirements.

When working with certain species of animals you must continue to wear masks.

Masks are required at all times when working with ferrets.

Masks are required when working outside the hood with hamsters, or rodents especially susceptible to COVID-19 (i.e., hACE2 mice).

Before entering the animal housing rooms and procedure rooms, look at the up-to-date PPE requirements posted on the doors.

If you don’t see a mask requirement on the animal housing room door, you can work with the animals maskless.

Training Requirements

QUIZ: Which comes first, an Animal Handling class or a DCM Facility Orientation?

ANSWER: This may surprise you, but researchers need to complete their In-Person Animal Handling training before they can be added to an IACUC protocol, and are then eligible to register to attend the necessary DCM Facility Orientation to gain access to the facility.

When people register for everything at once it slows down the registration process and may also delay the researcher’s eligibility to begin their work on the protocol.

To complete your training requirements as efficiently and as effectively as possible, be sure to register for and complete the requirements in the appropriate order. Please see the Flow Charts on our site for more information: Animal Use Training Sessions: Frequently Asked Questions.

NIH Wants to Hear from You

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is working to identify areas in which the development and use of novel alternative methods (NAMs), such as organoids and microfluidic systems, provide the most value to biomedical research, and they want to hear from you!

In particular, NIH is interested in learning how NAMs are currently being used to study human biology, circuits, systems, and disease states; approaches for catalyzing the development and validation of new NAMs; and strategies for maximizing the value of NAMs in research.

Input received will help to inform NIH on high-priority areas for future investment in NAMs.

Submit comments to NIH by August 16th.

EH&S Updates

Download the updated UW Field Operations Safety Manual: You can find detailed information about field safety practices, in addition to the manual, on the EH&S Field Operations Safety webpage.

Resources listed there include a risk assessment tool and guidelines, fieldwork safety plan templates, and training log templates.

Visit the COVID-19 Health and Safety page to read a summary of updated (and archived) guidance and requirements for the UW community.