27 May 2009

How can institutions and their IACUCs best prepare for a pandemic?

OLAW posted a reminder on its website to grantee institutions that the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals requires PHS Assured institutions to “have a disaster plan that takes into account both personnel and animals.”

Look at the OLAW website in the Frequently Asked Questions section, question 9, under Institutional Responsibilities or see more information about the H1N1 Influenza at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/.

Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research webinar

Registration for the June 4, 2009 webinar at at 1:00 PM ET - If It's Not Broken, Improve It: New Strategies in Laboratory Animal Care - is still open, but closes on Tuesday, June 2.

This 90-minute intermediate/advanced-level webinar for animal program directors, facility/program operations managers, vice presidents of research/research policymakers, institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) office directors, and veterinarians will provide information about:

Enabling Change in Laboratory Animal Management – Learn new operational strategies that incorporate continuous improvement and workforce empowerment adapted from Toyota's Production Systems (TPS) that can significantly improve efficiency, cost, and quality within any animal program.

and

Expanding the Concept of Medicine in Laboratory Animal Care – Explore opportunities for lab animal medicine to grow beyond its historical emphasis on preventive medicine and more recent practice of palliative medicine, by considering applications in restorative medicine without compromising protocol endpoints.

Register now at http://www.primr.org/Conferences.aspx?id=6653

21 May 2009

HARPO will be closed

The office will be closed for Memorial Day (and furlough days), May 22 and 25, 2009. We'll reopen on May 26, 2009.