Training Resources

One of the primary responsibilities of our committee is to ensure that research personnel have the qualifications and training necessary to perform proposed work using animal subjects.

Required Training Programs

Regulatory agencies require the university, through the oversight of the University Committee for Animal Welfare (UCAW), to ensure all personnel working with laboratory animals possess appropriate experience and training. Animal-use privileges are contingent upon meeting the UCAW training requirements and individuals who have not met these will be infomred during the protocol review process. The Comparative Medicine Research Unit (CMRU) also requires facility-specific training before access is granted into animal vivaria.

Training Courses

Euthanasia
All laboratory personnel responsible for euthanasia must attend a hands-on euthanasia training session with CMRU faculty and staff or a CMRU-certified euthanasia trainer.
Rodent surgery
All laboratory personnel responsible for performing surgery (both survival and non-survival) on rodents must complete University Committee for Animal Welfare (UCAW) mandated training.
Rodent biomethodology
The CMRU offers basic rodent biomethodology training for investigators and laboratory personnel on a bi-monthly basis with mice and rats.
Laboratory and satellite rodent housing
When warranted, holding animals in laboratories for long periods of time must be specifically justified and approved in an UCAW proposal.
PI maintained nonmammalian housing
Principal Investigators (PIs) maintaining non-mammalian (fish, amphibian, reptile) species and providing daily husbandry and animal care must follow the principles outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (8th Edition, 2011).