Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) Review of Animal Use Protocols

Procedures for Ethics Review of Animal Use Protocols

All proposed use of animals for research, teaching, testing and display must receive ethical review, and be approved by the UCACS, before the animals are obtained and the work initiated. Requests to use animals must be submitted on the Animal Use Protocol (AUP) Research or Teaching Application Form.

Ethical review of animal use protocols is conducted by the UCACS Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB).

Submission Deadline Dates and Animal REB Meeting Dates

To accommodate regulatory requirements and to meet the needs of researchers, the AREB holds one full-board meeting per month. The AREB meets on the fourth Wednesday every month, except for the December meeting, or if otherwise announced.

Deadline for receipt of new protocols in the Research Ethics Office for review that month is the first Friday of the month. Protocol submissions must be submitted by 4:30 pm on the submission date. Late applications will be held over to the next meeting date. Protocols will be numbered as the Research Ethics Office receives them.

Amendments, revisions and updated annual approval requests that require full board approval must be submitted as per the submission date schedule to be included on the agenda of the scheduled meeting.

The AREB requires the following for submission of an animal use application:

• One original application with signatures (Principal Investigator / Course Director, Department Head or Director, and Facility Manger)
• Electronic copy (PDF format preferred) - Email application to ucacs.office@usask.ca

Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) Schedule for 2011

**Change of meeting from regular schedule

Annual Review of Ongoing Protocols

Ethics approval of animal-based research protocols is issued for one year at a time, in compliance with the CCAC guidelines and the UCACS Terms of Reference.
If the research project continues beyond one year, the principal investigator must submit a completed "Annual Review Report" form to the Research Ethics Office prior to the one-year anniversary approval date. A reminder of the upcoming annual review will be sent to the principal investigator within two months prior to the anniversary approval date. If the Annual Review Report form is not received by the anniversary approval date, the Research Ethics Office will send a second reminder to the principal investigator indicating that the study will be closed one month after the anniversary date. If the Annual Review Report form is not received within one month of the second reminder, the protocol will be considered "completed".

Protocol Modifications

During the course of the year (prior to the annual review), if any changes are required (e.g. different species or strain, increase in numbers of animals, change in animal procedures) these modifications must first be approved by the UCACS AREB, before the changes can be incorporated into the research program. Modification requests must be submitted on the Animal Use Protocol (AUP) Modification Form.

Acknowledgement of Ethics Review

The UCACS requires that the following statement of acknowledgement to indicate research has been reviewed and approved by the UCACS AREB be encouraged on all posters and publications by researchers and students. It is also important for researchers and students to understand the time and commitment that the volunteer members of the AREB provide to the UCACS.

This work was approved by the University of Saskatchewan’s Animal Research Ethics Board and adhered to the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines for humane animal use.

Scientific Peer Review of Animal Use Protocols

According to the CCAC policy statement on: the importance of independent peer review of the scientific merit of animal-based research projects, it is the institution’s responsibility to have in place a mechanism to ensure that proposed animal use for research is independently peer-reviewed for its scientific merit before it is given final approval by the University Committee on Animal Care and Supply (UCACS) Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB).

Effective November 1st, 2011, all proposed animal-based research work must be peer reviewed for scientific merit, at arm's length from the UCACS AREB, before the AREB receives the protocol for ethics review.  The AREB will not review new or renewal animal use protocols if confirmation that scientific merit has been demonstrated through an independent peer review has not been demonstrated prior to submission to the AREB.

The Research Ethics Office has compiled a list of funding agencies that are known to conduct peer review as part of their granting process. The Associate Deans Research of individual colleges or Directors of Centres or Units will be responsible for ensuring that all proposed animal-based work has received peer review for scientific merit prior to submission of the protocol to the AREB. Please refer to the Scientific Peer Review Assessment Form for Evaluation of Scientific Merit relating to Animal Use Protocols for guidance as to the questions asked during the peer review process and refer to the Procedure for Scientific Merit Review of Animal Use Protocols (Principal Investigators) .