The Institutional Care and Use Committee (IACUC) reviews all activities involving vertebrate animals conducted at this institution, or at another institution as a consequence of sub-granting or sub-contracting. We recommend you begin by reading the UNE IACUC Policy and the introductory document What Investigators Need to Know About the Use of Animals.

To contact the Animal Care and Use Committee, email iacuc@une.edu or contact Brian Lynn, director of research integrity, at blynn@une.edu or (207) 602-2244. Additionally, you can contact Ling Cao, IACUC chair at lcao@une.edu or (207) 602-2213 or Ivy Berquist, IACUC administrator at iberquist@une.edu or (207) 602-2117.

CITI Online Educational Requirements

CITI training is a training requirement. All investigators, research staff, and instructors are required to successfully complete the applicable training. Protocols submitted to the IACUC will not be accepted for review until this requirement has been fulfilled. Depending on your work with animals, the training requirements will differ. If you need clarification about what training is required of animal care and use personnel, it is your responsibility to contact the IACUC to seek clarification.

Learn how to set up your CITI training

All investigators, faculty advisors, instructors and research staff are required to complete the CITI online training modules listed below:

• The applicable “Responsible Conduct of Research Course "
• “Minimizing Pain and Distress”(for work with mice and/or rats) 
• Additionally, investigators (including student investigators) and instructors must complete the "Working with the IACUC Course."
• The "Aseptic Surgery" module should be completed by research staff including investigators who conduct major survival surgery or non-survival surgeries. 

Species-Specific Modules

Species-specific modules should be completed based on the availability of the module for the species with which you are working. If you are working with rats, you should complete the “I work with Rats” module. If you work with mice, you should complete the “I work with Mice” module. If you work with both species, you should complete both. If there is a species module available through CITI for the species with which you are working, then you need to take it. This is applicable to investigators, instructors and research staff.

If you do not already have a CITI username and password, you will need to create one of your choosing. It is important that you affiliate with the University of New England so that your training can be tracked properly. You can enter and leave the training as you wish. You do not need to do the training all in one sitting. It is recommended that each lab and instructor keep an up-to-date training record in their lab/classroom with copies of completion reports.

Protocol Submission Requirements

In addition to investigators (and when applicable instructors), all research staff should be listed on IACUC protocol submissions. The training requirements should be completed within 36 months of the application date. Training requirements will be verified by the IACUC Administrator. Applications will not be processed or reviewed until this requirement has been fulfilled. In addition, so long as an approved protocol is active, investigators, instructors and research staff must update their qualifications at least every 36 months. This qualification must be maintained in order for investigators to continue animal activities. 

• Each submission must utilize the appropriate form on the IACUC website.
• Each submission must answer all questions fully and in sufficient detail to allow IACUC reviewers to make the determination required. 
• Submissions should be emailed to iacuc@une.edu in Word or PDF format.