The UConn Health Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is federally mandated to review work with recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids.

This committee meets monthly, usually on the second Thursday of the month. Exceptions are noted (*). Receive forms from and submit to ibc@uchc.edu by the submission deadline.

Upcoming meetings 2023:

If you are a person interested in or concerned about this type of research, you are invited to attend a meeting of the UCONN Health IBC. Meetings will be held virtually for the foreseeable future. Please contact IBC@uchc.edu for more information.

WCG Institutional Biosafety Committee Services periodically convenes open meetings regarding a human gene transfer study at UCONN Health. Announcements about these meetings will appear below when they are scheduled.

This page gives you some facts and a strategy for what you need to do about compliance when working with rDNA.

FACTS

• If you will be working with rDNA and funded by NIH or working at an Institution where work involving rDNA is funded by NIH (like it is at UConn Health), you are working under the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic DNA Molecules (NIH r/s NA Guidelines). Compliance to these guidelines is required as a condition of NIH funding (and that of many other agencies) for research involving rDNA at the whole institution.
• Institutions (UConn Health), Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) and Principal Investigators (PIs) are all responsible for compliance under the NIH rDNA Guidelines.
• All faculty are required to take the IBC/DURC/Biosafety training available at the CITI training site every three years. Contact the BioSafety Program Coordinator to get instructions how to do this.
• Many rDNA experiments are exempt to the NIH r/s NA Guidelines, but some that you might think are exempt may not be. Experiments that are not exempt need to be registered with the IBC before they are started. In some cases the application needs only to be submitted and accepted by the IBC before work may start.
• Viral Vector rDNA experiments need to be registered with the IBC.

STRATEGY (What to Do and Not Do)

• Determine if your experiment or set of experiments is exempt or not exempt.
• If you know your experiment(s) is not exempt, contact the BioSafety Program Coordinator to begin the registration process.
• Even if you believe your experiment(s) is exempt (or safe or used elsewhere), please contact the BioSafety Program Coordinator. The only way for a PI to be sure they have done all they can to ensure their compliance with the NIH r/s NA Guidelines, is for the IBC to determine that the PI’s experiment is exempt and document it. Fortunately, the BSO may serve as the IBC’s proxy to make this determination and perform the documentation. This makes the decision about whether an experiment needs to be registered or not, quicker and not too hard.
• Do not begin any rDNA work without UCH IBC authorization or determination that the work is exempt by the BSO.

 Additional information regarding the IBC and r/s NA experiments

• About IBCs and the UConn Health IBC
• Contact the IBC
• IBC meetings are monthly. See the Meeting Dates for more information.
• r/s NA in Animal Care Protocols
• NIH Office of Science Policy, Biosafety, Biosecurity, and Emerging Biotechnology Policy Division (OSP) homepage.
• Useful Definitions

Please direct all submissions to the BioSafety Program Coordinator.

Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL)

NIH Office of Science Policy (OSP)

NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules

American Biological Safety Association (ABSA Risk Group Database plus…)

Canadian Pathogen Safety Data Sheets (PSDS)

CDC/USDA Select Agent Program (Look under “Select Agents and Toxins”)

Biological Exposure/Spill Emergency Plans

Computer-based Biosafety Training

Please contact the BioSafety Program Coordinator for all IBC forms.

For Chemical or Biosafety Animal Safety Protocols create a protocol in InfoEd. The forms for this are listed there.

Institutions that receive NIH funding for any research involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids must comply with the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH r/s NA Guidelines). Here at UCH, we commonly abbreviate this title to NIH r/s NA Guidelines.  You can read the full document.

The state of Connecticut has pertinent laws as well. Please see the CT Public Health Code 19a-36-A and the Requirements for Institutions with BSL-3 Facilities for more information.

The Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), published by the CDC’s Office of Safety, Health, and Environment in conjuction with the NIH, is considered the national standard to promote the safety and health of laboratory workers. It covers the basic principles of biosafety, biocontainment, and provides detailed information on working safely with various pathogens, toxins, and other biohazards. Please take the time to review the BMBL and promote a culture of safety in your laboratory.

For those who may be in contact with human blood, body fluids or tissues, Bloodborne Pathogen training is a legal requirement (OSHA). For those interested in the specifics:

• OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Regulations
• Needlestick & Sharps Injuries
• OSHA Directive on Bloodborne Pathogens
• OSHA Interpretation about Human Cells in Culture