FASEB Responds to OLAW Congruency Review RFI

Thursday, October 8, 2020
On October 6, FASEB submitted a response to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) Request for Information (NOT-OD-20-153) regarding clarification of insitutional responsibilities regarding grant to protocol congruency. The FASEB response recommends the elimination of the congruency review considering this requirement is redundant to existing mechanisms such as post-approval monitoring and semiannual inspections. Furthermore, to alleviate the administrative burden associated with congruency review, the response urges OLAW to adjust IACUC protocols with the research grant length and reinstate the "pending" status of IACUC approvals to allow the resease of grant funds to institutions.