Animal Care and Use Training and Education Program

1. Introduction

The privilege of conducting research using animal subjects at Stanford University depends on the University's compliance with federal and state regulations governing the humane care and use of laboratory animals. The Health Research Extension Act of 1985 (1) and the Animal Welfare Act Regulations (2) both require that individuals involved in the care and use of animals in research be adequately educated, trained, and/or qualified in basic principles of laboratory animal science to help ensure high-quality science and animal well-being to perform their duties. To that end, the University must provide appropriate training and instruction to all personnel involved in animal research.

This memo confirms that a web-based course, the “Animal Care and Use Training Program” (VSC-PROG-0001), is one of the primary sources for this training and describes who is required to complete this training course. We recognize that much relevant training occurs within each research unit, and that many individuals have background experience that qualifies them in certain aspects of the care and use of animals. However, we believe completion of introductory core training by all those involved in animal research at Stanford is essential.

Principal Investigators (PIs) must keep in mind that it is their responsibility to guarantee the appropriate training of their students, associates, and staff, and to make sure that their research programs are in compliance with all regulations and policies governing the care and use of animals. This brief course will help PIs do this, and it will enable the Department of Comparative Medicine’s Veterinary Service Center (VSC) to document the delivery of this introduction to the care and use of animals in research and teaching at Stanford University.

2. Who Must Complete the Animal Care and Use Training Program?

It is a Stanford requirement that all faculty, researchers, students, and staff who are new to animal research at Stanford will complete this web-based course that consists of reviewing a training module and passing a quiz. This includes all those who intend to file a protocol for the first time, or whose names are being added to existing protocols. In addition, completion of the online course is required for any investigators, graduate students, fellows, and staff engaged in animal research who did not attend the previous lecture-based training on animal care and use. The information in the course will make it easier to prepare protocols properly and to comply with current regulations regarding housing, use, care, and euthanasia.

This core training program, which has been reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), is available online, and information regarding enrollment is available on the VSC website. Documentation of completion requires that personnel take and pass a brief quiz upon finishing the course. The VSC also offers an extensive list of seminars, workshops, and training, both didactic and hands-on, targeted for individuals whose use of animals in research and teaching creates special training needs (e.g., rodent handling and basic techniques, work with non-human primates, rodent survival surgery, introduction to stereotaxic surgery, breeding mice, and the use of biohazardous agents in animals).

We encourage all faculty, researchers, students, and staff who work with research animals at Stanford University to take advantage of the many training opportunities and resources that are made available through the VSC in the Department of Comparative Medicine. For questions about the training program, please visit the VSC website.

1. Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare  Health Research Extension Act of 1985, P.L. 99-158, November 20, 1985 “Animals in Research
2. Animal Welfare Act Regulations, Title 9 CFR, Chapter 1, Subchapter A, §2.32