You can submit a modification at any time, as long as the protocol is not currently under review. If the protocol is under review and you want to make administratve changes only (i.e. adding personnel or funding), please email our office for assistance.

Review time will depend on the complexity of the modification. Administrative modifications, which include addition or deletion of personnel and/or funding, can generally be approved within 2-3 days. Modifications adding new procedures usually take 2-8 weeks, depending on complexity.

The PI or an Alternate Responsible can submit an administrative modification in RIO to add the award to their protocol. The award will be associated with the protocol after the modification has been approved. Please attach the Vertebrate Animal Section, grant letter and research summary to the protocol for federal awards in the first year of study so a grant congruency review may be performed.

Yes, you can let your protocol expire. To do this, please send an email to [email protected]  indicating: 1) the date you will cease animal work, and 2) what should happen to any remaining animals that are still in the animal facility under your protocol.

If you do not intend to reactivate the protocol, please let the IACUC office know that they can retire the protocol.

If your protocol expires, all work with vertebrate animals must stop immediately. You are not allowed to conduct research on animals until the protocol is approved. Federal funds cannot be used to pay per diems or animal support costs during the period of expiration.

However, laboratory personnel are responsible for working with their LARC manager to ensure that animals on study receive appropriate care while the protocol is expired. This may include:

• PI feeding or watering animals (e.g. antibiotic feed or water, special diets)

• Medications, including antibiotics and analgesics
• Visually observing animals for pain, distress, or ill health (e.g. seizures)
• Measurements needed to evaluate health status (e.g. blood glucose, measuring tumor size)
• Maintenance of implants or other medical devices

Breeding animals do not need to be separated, and lab staff should continue to wean litters; however, new breeding pairs are not allowed

Yes, you can reactivate an expired protocol. Contact the IACUC office before reactivating if your protocol has been expired for more than 6 months.

No. IACUCs do not have the authority to extend approval beyond 3 years. 

Yes, RIO allows you to make changes to the protocol at the same time as an annual renewal – select the “renewal with modifications” button on the renewal tab.

NOTE: If you have minor changes to make, these are usually fine to include with the annual renewal and should not delay approval. Minor changes include reducing animal numbers, deleting species, deleting procedures, adding or deleting personnel.

However, if you have significant changes, this may delay your annual renewal due to longer review time. We strongly suggest you submit and obtain approval of the annual renewal application first, then submit the modification.

If you have already started a modification application, RIO will not allow you to add an annual renewal. Please contact [email protected] to cancel your modification if you wish to renew the protocol.

If you would like to close the IACUC protocol, first ensure that there are no active cages listed under it. Then, email [email protected] with your request to retire the protocol. The IACUC office will confirm and formally retire the protocol in RIO.

If you would like to maintain the IACUC protocol, it must be transferred to a different Principal Investigator (PI) that meets our eligibility criteria. A PI transfer requires formal review and cannot be approved administratively with a modification of the protocol. To initiate a PI transfer:

• Confirm that the receiving PI has completed all required IACUC training relevant to functional roles and if they are also a new PI to UCSF, have scheduled and completed a new PI orientation with [email protected].
• Ensure that the receiving PI is listed as personnel in Section D of your protocol. Personnel amendments can be submitted in RIO as an administrative only modification.
• Submit a formal letter to [email protected] addressed to the IACUC committee that includes:

-  The protocol number and title

-  The reason for the change in PI​​​​​​

-  Signatures from both the current and receiving PI

The IACUC office will coordinate the formal review with the committee and once approved, will complete the PI transfer of the protocol in RIO.