Animal Research Committee (ARC)

Description of the Submission and Review Process:

Complete and submit the Vertebrate Animal Use Form online. The submitted form will then be sent to a animal research system administrator (Marzinnia "Cookie" Dean or Angela Greben, in the office of the Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station).
The system administrator will look over the form to determine if all of the required questions have been answered and then forward the completed form to the University of Florida’s Attending Veterinarian, Dr. Gus Battles, for review. If some questions are left blank, Ms. Dean will contact the PI.
Dr. Battles and his review team will make relevant comments concerning the Animal Use Form in the protocol management system. After review, they will forward it to the assigned reviewer from the PI’s research discipline who will, as needed, make comments in the margin as well. Neither reviewer will edit the original text submitted by the PI.
After both reviews are complete, the discipline reviewer will discuss the questions and suggestions from the reviews with the PI. This stage of the process is to be finished in 10 working days or less.
The changes that are agreed upon by all parties will be made by the PI. The revised form will be resubmitted to the office of the Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station who will forward it to the UF Attending Veterinarian and the discipline reviewer for a second look. Upon approval, the PI and the office of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station will be notified automatically by email.

In the unlikely event that the PI and reviewers are not able to agree on a study’s protocol regarding animal welfare/research procedures, the form will be reviewed by the full committee. If disagreements remain, the project will be discussed with the Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.
The Director of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station will sign the Vertebrate Animal Use Form and the PI will be sent a signed electronic copy, allowing the studies to be initiated. The document can be printed out in Microsoft Word format and saved as a paper or electronic copy on your personal computer.

Current members of the IFAS Animal Research Committee who currently serve as reviewers of submitted Vertebrate Animal Use Forms are the following:

Animal Care Services:
- Dr. Gus Battles; abattles@ufl.edu
- Dr. Tracy Krueger; kruegert@vetmed.ufl.edu
Animal Sciences:
- Dr. Bill Brown; wfbrown@ufl.edu
- Dr. Geoff Dahl; gdahl@ufl.edu
- Dr. Ed Johnson; edwardj@ufl.edu
- Dr. Charlie Staples; chasstap@ufl.edu
Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences:
- Dr. Mike Allen; msal@ufl.edu
- Dr. Frank Chapman; fchapman@ufl.edu
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation:
- Dr. Bill Giuliano; docg@ufl.edu
- Dr. Marty Main; mmain@ufl.edu
- Dr. Mel Sunquist; sunquist@ufl.edu