The Animal Investigation Committee (AIC) announced the creation of a new protocol submission process that has significantly improved the protocol approval rate and reduced the paperwork required for submission In June, the AIC implemented a protocol pre-review process and began accepting protocol submissions via email The pre-review of new protocols by the WSU veterinarians has increased the provisional approval rate for protocols submitted in July and August to 59%, up from the 15% approval rate during the previous six months!

In addition to increasing the approval rate, the office also reduced the number of hardcopies required for submission to four as opposed to the 19 copies required in the past. Dr. Noreen Rossi, assistant dean for Clinical Research in the School of Medicine complimented the AIC, stating “The new pre-review process was very helpful as many of the oversights that occur in compiling a complex protocol were caught in advance.” How the New Process Works: The new protocol submission process requires a mandatory pre-review and enables Principal Investigators to submit new protocols to the AIC via email.

All protocols with Category D and E animals previously required a veterinary consultation prior to submission. This consultation has been replaced by the pre-review process. The new process requires that all protocols be submitted to the AIC for pre-review. The AIC office distributes all protocols to AIC pre-reviewers via email. Protocols with Category D or E animals are automatically assigned to a veterinarian. The pre-reviewers communicate directly with the PIs regarding protocol suggestions and/or questions. Once the pre-review has been completed, Principal Investigators submit one original signed protocol, three copies of the protocol and three copies of the associated grant (if applicable) to the AIC Office.

Instructions for New AIC Process:Visit http://www.aic.wayne.edu for submission deadline dates, to download a new Protocol Application form and for more specific detail. Submit the protocol application and the associated grant (if applicable) via email to aic@wayne.edu attachments. The subject line of the email should read: NEW PROTOCOL (PI NAME).

The pre-reviewer will contact the PI regarding the protocol; all changes will be discussed directly with the pre-reviewer. The pre-reviewer will email the PI an official notification of review completion as well as the electronic copy of your finalized application. Once the pre-review has been completed and email notification is received, the following should be submitted to the AIC Office (101 E. Alexandrine: A) One signed original protocol application; B) Three copies of the protocol; c) Three copies of the grant (if applicable). For further information or questions, contact Dorinda Monson, AIC Program Project Coordinator at 577-1629, or dorinda.monson@wayne.edu.