A workshop planning committee will be convened by the National Academies to explore topics of interest related to potential, future updates to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide, 8th edition, NRC 2011). The workshop will build upon listening sessions that the Standing Committee for the Care and Use of Animals in Research (Standing Committee) held during the past year as it has explored various themes to inform future updates or revisions to the Guide. The workshop will serve as an event to share information and gather knowledge on topics including, but not limited to:
• Role of regulatory agency policies and their impact on the Guide.
• Possible new dissemination formats and content management of the Guide that would have the potential to provide increased usability and accessibility of information to the animal research and welfare communities.
• The use of terminology in the Guide.
• Topics related to institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs), such as challenges of using the Guide by IACUCS with perspectives from large and small institutions.
• The role and responsibilities of IACUCs in ethical decisions, scientific merit review, harm-benefit analysis, rigor and reproducibility.
• Topics related to housing, international housing regulations, and their impacts on animal behavior and welfare.
• Relevant guidelines (e.g., AVMA Guidelines for Euthanasia, Taxon-specific Guides, Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), Guide for the Care and Use of Agricultural Animals in Research and Training (the Ag Guide), ARRIVE Guidelines) that could be included in the Guide to support recommendations.
• Other topics of potential relevance to future Guide updates raised by the planning committee or workshop participants.
The planning committee will plan and organize the workshop, select, and invite speakers and moderate the discussions. The presentations and discussions from the workshop will be summarized by a rapporteur-prepared Proceedings-in-Brief in accordance with institutional guidelines.