There are many circumstances that involve partnerships between collaborating institutions or relationships between institutional animal care programs. The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (Guide) recommends that collaborating institutions involving animal use should have a formal written understanding (e.g., a contract, MOU, or agreement) that addresses the responsibility for offsite animal care and use, animal ownership, and IACUC review and oversight. For funding administered through the Public Health Service (PHS) involving vertebrate animals, an agreement must be in place.
Where the University of Pittsburgh is the Prime Awardee:
In most cases of collaborating research, when the University of Pittsburgh issues a subaward from a PHS funding source that has a vertebrate animal component, specific language is provided in the Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) subaward contract that covers this requirement. If the following conditions are met, no additional MOU is required:
- The performing institution has a PHS Assurance.
- The performing institution has a USDA registration (when applicable).
- The performing institution is AAALAC Accredited or, for Canadian institutions, certified by the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC).
- The performing institution has sole ownership and oversight of the animals.
If all the above requirements are not met, the Principal Investigator (PI) must contact the Animal Research Protection (ARP) office at IACUC@pitt.edu. The ARP will assist in developing and implementing a more comprehensive contract, MOU, or agreement.
Please refer to the University of Pittsburgh SOP: Accepting IACUC Reviews from Other Institutions for additional information on IACUC review requirements for collaborating institutions.
Where the University of Pittsburgh is the Sub-Awardee:
If you have been contacted by the prime awardee institution and they have requested an MOU with the University of Pittsburgh, please forward the correspondence and any related documentation to IACUC@pitt.edu.
Still have questions?
Questions about MOU requirements for collaborating institutions can be submitted to IACUC@pitt.edu.