The Principal Investigator is

• required to have a current animal use protocol, approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), before any activities involving live animals begin.

• required to comply with all Federal regulations, laws and policies

• required to assure that all participants on the protocol will follow the policies set forth in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (The Guide).

• responsible for the conduct of the work and to assure that all co-investigators, technical staff, students and visiting fellows or collaborators comply with all federal regulations and Institutional policies regarding the humane care and use of animals in research and teaching.

• responsible for assuring that all participants in animal research studies under their supervision are properly trained in the procedures as outlined in the protocol.

• responsible for keeping the animal use protocol accurate and up to date.  PI’s must inform the IACUC when there are changes in personnel.

• responsible to assure that the work follows the approved protocol.   All changes in the protocol or procedures must be reviewed and approved before the procedure(s) can be implemented.

• responsible for maintaining animal records in a secure but, accessible location.   Records must be available at all time for review by the attending veterinarian, the IACUC, the USDA and/or PHS.

• responsible for assuring that all pharmaceuticals are within the manufacturer’s expiration date.   Under no circumstances can expired anesthetics, analgesics or antibiotics be used in either survival or non-survival surgery unless approved by the IACUC. 

• responsible for assuring that all controlled substances are stored in a safe and secure manner per DEA guidelines.

• responsible for assuring that all animals in the protocol are properly identified i.e. cage cards.