Javier Colón was the senior manager of the Great Eastern University laboratory animal facility. For as long as he could remember, the air conditioning unit in the animal facility had made enough noise to require people to raise their voices to be heard. Nevertheless, it worked well otherwise, and the entire animal facility enjoyed full AAALAC accreditation. There had never been any faculty complaints about the noise until Shirley Steadman, a noted immunologist, arrived and initiated her studies on the genetic basis of resistance to lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus and other diseases. In her previous work at another institution, she had routinely used two strains of mice with differing susceptibilities to infection with the virus, but at Great Eastern, those differences were not detectable. After reexamining her methodology and the quality of her supplies, confirming the genotype of the animals she bred and evaluating her technicians' techniques, she surmised that the mice were being stressed by the air conditioner noise and that the stress was masking the difference in susceptibilities between the two strains.

Steadman complained to Colón about the noise, and although Colón was apologetic, he told Steadman that that the problem was not the air conditioner itself but rather the supports for the unit and the way in which the building transmitted sounds. He explained that the building was old and that the school had recently re-braced the air conditioning unit and installed sound attenuation equipment. The noise from the unit was less now than it ever had been and, he said, no other investigators had ever complained. In addition, AAALAC, at its triennial site visits, had never indicated it was even a minor problem. Colón said there was nothing he could do.

Unsatisfied with Colón's explanation, Steadman re-studied the literature on stress in rodents and read the applicable federal guidelines and regulations about stress in animals. She then went to the IACUC and made a strong complaint that the school and IACUC were condoning unnecessary stress in animals in violation of applicable federal regulations and guidelines. The IACUC went into executive session and decided that because no other investigators, including immunologists, had ever said that the air conditioning noise was a stressor; because the facility was AAALAC accredited; and because there were no other obvious indications of animal stress, Steadman should not blithely assume that the background noise from the air conditioning unit was the cause of her problems. The committee said that it was up to Steadman to prove her hypothesis and that the air conditioner noise would not become an issue for the IACUC and animal facility unless that happened. The IACUC also agreed to work with Steadman to try to find a resolution to her research problem, including the approval of appropriately designed pilot studies, but the job of finding an answer to the dilemma was essentially placed on Steadman's shoulders.

What is your opinion? Are Colón's explanations and the IACUC's actions appropriate and sufficient? Or is it the responsibility of Great Eastern University, not Shirley Steadman, to uncover the cause of her research problem? How would your IACUC approach this situation?

Response to Protocol Review Scenario: On institution's shoulders

Response to Protocol Review Scenario: IACUC's responsibility

Response to Protocol Review Scenario: A word from AAALAC International