• Guidelines, inspections, and accreditation. Emory University adheres to all federal guidelines and regulations established by the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture concerning the use of animals in research. These agencies regularly inspect the research laboratories both in scheduled and unscheduled visits. The Yerkes Primate Research Center has been fully accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International, an accreditation considered the "gold standard" of approval, since 1985. The rest of the University research programs applied for and received full accreditation in 1992. These programs go through extensive visit and re-accreditation every three years.
  
  
• Veterinary care. Emory maintains two Offices of Animal Care fully staffed by veterinarians, veterinary technicians and animal care technicians, all trained and committed to the care and well-being of any animals involved in teaching and research. One office focuses on specifically on animals at The Yerkes Primate Research Center.
  
  
• The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Overseeing both Offices of Animal Care, as well as all research use of animals, is an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which includes scientists, veterinarians and representatives from the community at large. Any scientist who wants to conduct research must submit a detailed proposal to this committee. It is often more difficult to get permission to conduct research using animals than it is to conduct research using humans (since humans can speak for themselves). Some of the questions considered when the Committee decides whether or not a researcher can have permission to do a study involving animals are: whether animals are necessary to the result, whether a smaller number of animals would do just as well, whether a different species would answer the same question (i.e. a rat instead of a pig), whether or not the research is unnecessarily duplicative, and what steps the researcher will take to assure the physical comfort and social well-being of the animals involved.
  
  
• The federal Animal Welfare Act is the key federal law governing research with animals. It can be viewed at (http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac).
  
  
• And finally, the well-being of animals is a prime consideration on the part of the researchers themselves, as well as the veterinarians and animal care technicians who work with these animals. Pragmatically, it is in the best interests of the experiments themselves that the animals not be in pain and distress so that the body is functioning normally. Emotionally, as human beings, most with companion animals of their own at home, our researchers recognize working with animals is both a privilege and a heavy responsibility.
  

Does Emory conduct research using animals?

Why use animals?