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IACUC Review and Approval Process

1.  The UCSC Office of Research Compliance Administration (ORCA) receives a completed UCSC IACUC protocol application. Upon receipt, ORCA screens the application for completeness and proper format (applications need to be a Word doc file of the most recent application form). If there are any issues found during the screening, the application is returned to the PI for resubmission. If no issues are found, the protocol continues to the next step of the approval process.

2.  During ORCA's initial screening of an application, PIs receive notification about current personnel training requirements. In order for a protocol to be approved by the IACUC, proposed research staff must complete two personnel requirements: the online CITI Training and the UCSC Occupational Health Surveillance System (OHSS) assessment/clearance. It is the responsibility of the principal investigator to make sure proposed staff complete their training.

3.  Once a protocol has cleared the initial screening process, ORCA forwards the protocol to the campus veterinarian for review. If the veterinarian has any questions or concerns about the protocol, the PI will be notified and asked to clarify and/or revise the protocol. Once the veterinarian finds the protocol acceptable, ORCA will then send the protocol to the chair of the IACUC for review.

4.  After review, the IACUC chair will either approve the protocol, or designate specific members of the IACUC committee to review the protocol. At any point, the chair or other committee members may have questions or concerns that will be relayed to the PI. Once the IACUC finds the protocol acceptable, the protocol is approved.

5.  When the IACUC approves a protocol, the protocol then returns to ORCA for a final check. If the IACUC approved a protocol conditionally, the conditions of approval must be met before an approval can be issued. Additionally, an approval cannot be issued for a protocol until all training requirements are complete.

6.  When all the requirements for approval have been met, the PI receives a notification of approval via email from the Office of Research Compliance. When approved, any grant funds may be released and a letter of verification can be written to a funding agency upon request from the PI. Learn more about verification letters.