On 26 January 2007, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a notice1 explaining that NIH grant monies cannot be used for work with live vertebrate animals unless that work is associated with a valid Animal Welfare assurance from the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) and/or a valid IACUC-approved protocol. The Office of Management and Budget Cost Principles and the NIH Grants Policy Statement (NIHGPS) do not allow for the animal work to be charged against NIH grants in cases when either or both of these conditions are not met.

The NIH notice listed the following as specific situations under which charges are not allowed:

  • “The conduct of animal activities in the absence of a valid Assurance on file with OLAW.

  • “The conduct of animal activities in the absence of a valid IACUC approval of the activity. Absence of IACUC approval includes failure to obtain IACUC approval, expiration, or suspension of IACUC approval1.”

Any situations that do not meet these terms and conditions as defined in the NIHGPS should be reported to the Institute or Center supporting the grant. During periods when there is no valid Assurance or IACUC approval, grantees must continue to care for their animals, although whether grant money will be available to go toward such animal care activities will only be decided on a case-by-case basis.

The notice specifies that the abovementioned situations constitute serious noncompliance with the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals2 that must be promptly reported to OLAW.

In addition, the notice includes a reminder that the primary grantee is responsible for the conduct of a project involving institutional collaboration, including grant expenditures by all parties. As such, the primary grantee must ensure that collaborating organizations have valid Assurances and IACUC approvals for the animal work they are conducting.