An ad hoc planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will plan and conduct a workshop to explore and characterize aspects of the complex scientific, ethical, and occupational health issues associated with human-animal interactions in the biomedical research environment. The workshop will consider the full range of people who are involved in animal care and use in biomedical research settings, including research scientists, their staff and students, laboratory animal facilities managers, animal care staff, veterinarians and members of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).

Workshop discussions will explore the following topics:

-- The historical evolution of human-animal interactions;

-- The nature of human-animal interactions in biomedical research (e.g., human-animal bonds that can form between animal caregivers and animals used in research, the direct handling of animals for the procedures required by some research, indirect impacts on other individuals who may not have direct contact with animal subjects but oversee personnel who do);

-- The potential impacts of human-animal interactions on key aspects of occupational health for those who care for and use animals in biomedical research, with a particular focus on worker satisfaction, worker attitudes, and potential emotional or psychological impacts;

-- The potential effects of openness and transparency regarding the care for and use of research animals on people who work with animals in biomedical research settings;

-- Potential metrics and indicators for monitoring the workplace impacts of human-animal interactions in the biomedical research environment; and

-- Tools, processes, and lessons learned from existing programs that are focused on the impacts of human-animal interactions in the biomedical research environment, that could inform a framework to guide development of programs at other institutions.

A proceedings of the workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur and will include an appendix comprising abstracts submitted by the speakers in advance of the workshop.