Institutional Animal Care

IACUC Certification

Faculty, researchers, and staff who work with vertebrate animals or tissues must be certified by the IACUC which is done through the USF online ARC portal.

  • (Section VIII)
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NEW RESEARCHERS REQUIRING CERTIFICATION

Email IACUC requesting instructions to become certified. Include the following. 

  1. Your Name
  2. Official organization email address
  3. Your Principal Investigator’s name
  4. Species you will be working with
  5. Will you be performing surgeries
  • You will receive an email response with specialized instructions for certification. There is specific documentation required for basic certification. 
  • Follow the instructions in the order listed. 
  • Additional documentation/training may be required based on the research you will be participating in. You will be uploading all documentation to your ARC Researcher Profile. 

Basic Certification Requirements

  • Animal Experience
  • Up-to-date CV/Resume
  • Completed Health & Risk Assessment Form
  • Completed Facility Orientation Form
  • AALAS Laws & Regs Completion Certification
  • AALAS Specialized Training
  • Biomethodologies Wet Lab Training Completion Document
    • This training will be targeted toward the specific species you will be working with, i.e., rat, mouse, guinea pig, rabbit, swine, etc.
    • Additional training may be required for some protocols.

Basic Wildlife Certification Requirements

  • Animal Experience
  • Up-to-date CV/Resume
  • Completed Health & Risk Assessment Form
  • Completed Wildlife Orientation form
  • AALAS Laws & Reg Completion Certification
  • Specialized AALAS training
  • Multi-Species Training Certificate of Completion

Completing Certification Documentation AND UPLOADING INTO ARC researcher Profile for IACUC

In order to complete the next steps please login into ARC, go to your profile tab, select your profile, and then edit the researcher profile activity.

ARC Researcher Profile Sections

  • Section 1.2 – Check IACUC
  • Section 2.4 – Upload up-to-date CV/Resume
  • Section 2.5 – Check the appropriate Institutional Status
  • Section 2.6 – At minimum, list your PI
  • Section 3.1 – Add Animal Experience, if none, add animal you will be working with and zero (0)
  • Section 3.2 – Upload Health & Risk Assessment Form
  • Section 3.3 – Upload Facility Orientation; Wildlife Orientation; Tissue Orientation
  • Section 3.4 – Upload AALAS USF custom course-Laws & Regs Certification Researcher Profile
  • Section 3.5 – Upload PDF of AALAS Specialized Training Certificate
  • Section 3.6 –Upload Biomethodologies Wet Lab Training
  • Section 3.7 – Upload PDF of AALAS Aseptic Technique in Rodent Survival Surgical Procedures Certificate  *if required
  • Section 3.7a –Aseptic Surgical Training Wet lab * if required
  • Section 3.8 – Other Documents, e.g., Multi-Species Training Certificate of Completion , Occupational Health Clearance Letters, additional AALAS certifications, additional wet-lab training, VA and CITI certifications etc.

DO NOT UPLOAD HEALTH INFORMATION (i.e. MHA Communicable Disease Form, vaccine records, etc.)

  • (PDF)

James A. Haley VA-based Training

  • All research staff contributing to protocols either funded via the VA Merit Review process or conducted at the JAHVA animal facility must complete at least two training modules via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) on the .
  • "Working with the IACUC" (Note that AALAS Training is acceptable in lieu of this module.)
  • Species-specific training (e.g., "Introduction to Mice"); if more than one species is to be used, then more than one species-specific tutorial must be completed.
  • Upload a copy of the CITI certification of completion to item 3.3 of your "Researcher Profile" viewable via the ARC portal.