Reducing Administrative Burden in Laboratory Animal Research: What Have We Done Recently and What’s Coming…

April 20, 2022

The 21st Century Cures Act called for NIH to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration to reduce administrative burdens associated with laboratory animal research programs, while maintaining high standards of animal welfare as well as the integrity and credibility of the research. We jointly released a final report in 2019 outlining steps to accomplish this goal, and have since worked together to implement many of the recommendations. We wanted to take this opportunity today to share some of NIH’s progress and how you can remain involved.

Webinar Available on Progress Towards Reducing Administrative Burden While Maintaining Animal Welfare and Scientific Integrity

March 17, 2021

The NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), along with their colleagues from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), recently presented a webinar discussing progress towards implementing the 21st Century Cures Act. The new webinar focuses on how the three agencies recommend reducing administrative burden on investigators while maintaining the integrity and credibility of research findings and the protection of research animals. The actions discussed follow the release of their final report in 2019.

Final Report on Reducing Administrative Burdens Associated with Research Involving Laboratory Animals

September 25, 2019

We are pleased to announce that last month the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published their final report on Reducing Administrative Burden for Researchers: Animal Care and Use in Research (NOT-OD-19-136). This report, called for in the 21st Century Cures Act, is the culmination of more than two years of diligent work to address inconsistent and overlapping policies governing oversight of research involving animals, while ensuring research findings remain credible and research institutions safeguard animal welfare.

Comments Welcomed on the Draft Report Recommending How to Reduce Administrative Burden in Research with Laboratory Animals: A Next Step in Implementing the 21st Century Cures Act

December 7, 2018

The 21st Century Cures Act requires federal agencies to “review applicable regulations and policies for the care and use of laboratory animals and make revisions, as appropriate, to reduce administrative burden on investigators while maintaining the integrity and credibility of research finding and protection of research animals.” This past March we requested feedback from the public on ways to reduce regulatory burden while also maintaining the highest standards for protecting animal welfare and scientific integrity. You responded with constructive and helpful feedback with more than19,000 comments. Generally, many responses supported the actions initially proposed in the request, but they were balanced with concerns from animal advocacy and other groups.

Make Your Voice Heard! We want Your Ideas to Reduce Administrative Burden in Research with Laboratory Animals

March 15, 2018

NIH has, for many years, been concerned about the increasing burden of applying for, reporting on, and the costs faced by researchers when complying with requirements on federally-funded research grants— so much so that it is even called out in our strategic plan as an area to address. Today, as we continue to implement the 21st Century Cures Act, NIH is requesting public feedback on some proposed approaches to reduce administrative burden on investigators use of laboratory animals in biomedical research (NOT-OD-18-152 and Federal Register Notice 2018-05173). Together with our colleagues at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we are looking for constructive and thoughtful feedback on this topic from individuals, research institutions, professional societies, animal advocacy organizations, and other interested parties. Input will be accepted electronically during a 90-day comment period, that is until June 12, 2018.