Purpose

UConn Health research involves collaborations between research groups – whether this is within UConn Health or between UConn Health and outside institutions.  The prevalence of collaborations has risen with the establishment of core services (e.g., surgical, behavioral) which perform specific scientific services for the research community.  A caveat of animal use when engaged in some collaborative enterprises involving core services is ambiguity about roles and responsibilities that can lead to some confusion as to the respective accountability of each collaborative entity.  To avoid confusion and unintentional protocol non-compliance, the IACUC has established a policy on collaborative research and IACUC protocols.

Action

1. All protocols utilizing core services are required to have all the core procedures which will be performed clearly described in the protocol of the collaborating PI.  For example, if a core service is performing surgery for a collaborating PI, then that collaborating PI’s protocol must describe the surgical procedure in his/her IACUC protocol.  In addition, that protocol must also include the core service personnel who are going to perform the described activities.

2. Any changes made to procedures in the core service’s protocol must be changed in the protocol of the collaborating PI who will utilize those services.  For example, if a surgical core changes the anesthesia used on a surgical procedure, the collaborating PI receiving his service must also change his/her protocol to reflect this core protocol change.  The core PI must also inform all researchers receiving his/her services of any changes to the procedure performed so that these changes are described in the collaborating PI’s affected protocols.

3. The core PI is not responsible for creating any modifications to the core protocol for procedures that are unique to the collaborating PI’s work.  For example, if a collaborating PI is having a calvarial defect performed by the service core and wishes to use a protocol-specific growth factor as an experimental treatment, the core PI’s protocol is not required to have the use of this growth factor described in its animal protocol.  Instead, it is the responsibility of the collaborating PI to modify his/her protocol to reflect the use of this growth factor.

Effective Dates:     June 6, 2024 thru June 30, 2027