What is scientific merit review and when is it required?
Review and approval of scientific merit is required before the protocol can be assigned to an IACUC meeting agenda. The primary charge of the IACUC is to ensure the ethical and humane use of animals in research. Pursuant to that objective, all studies involving animals in research must be deemed scientifically meritorious. Several mechanisms are in place to ensure the latter objective. Scientific merit review may be conducted by the Principal Investigator’s Departmental Review Committee (DRC), the NIH or one of the other agencies on the IACUC List of Funding Agencies That Conduct Acceptable Scientific Merit Review. The IACUC reserves the right to request additional review of scientific merit. In such cases, the IACUC constitutes an ad hoc committee. This committee may be composed of members of the IACUC and/or peers within the research community who offer a particular area of expertise. Full Committee applications must include documentation of current scientific merit review and approv
