Quick tips for Navigation of the eIACUC Animal Protocol Submission Program:

• The Animal Protocol is presented in several sections, which are navigated using a drop-down menu on the right of the Toolbar.
• Each section can be accessed by clicking on the section title in the menu, or using the Previous Section and Next Section buttons.
• The Animal Protocol is saved each time a new section is loaded (using the buttons or the menu).
• It can also be saved during work in progress by clicking the “Save Animal Protocol” button at the top or bottom of the page.

Answering Animal Protocol Questions

• This form includes many “smart” questions, for which the response to one question will affect the presence or absence of subsequent questions.  As a result, many of the question numbers will not be sequential; this is not a mistake or problem in the form, but a way to reduce the number of irrelevant questions a user has to answer.
• Help icons and blue text links are located throughout the Animal Protocol, which link to additional information regarding the question.  Clicking these icons/links will bring up a separate web browser/tab with the appropriate help material. 

Dropdown Fields

• Some fields have drop-down menus which include several common responses.
• After clicking anywhere in the field or on the arrow to the right, you can then select the appropriate response by placing your cursor over it and clicking. If none of the listed responses is appropriate, choose “Other.” A text field will appear where you can enter your response.

Check Boxes

• Some questions require selection of answers using boxes which can be “checked” or “unchecked” to indicate “yes” or “no,” respectively.
• Click on either the box or the text for each appropriate answer. Multiple answers may be selected, if appropriate.
• For the Analgesia and Anesthesia sections, procedure check boxes will be populated based on the procedures provided in other sections (Nonsurgical Procedures or Surgery).
• If the procedure you are seeking to indicate in the Analgesia and/or Anesthesia section is not populated, you may need to add information on the appropriate procedure section.

Keyboard-Only Use

• If you need to move between fields without the use of a mouse (i.e. using the keyboard only), please be aware that use the “up” or “down” buttons as you navigate the page may change your selection on a dropdown menu.
• Use the “Tab” key to move between fields and the “space bar” and “enter” keys to manipulate the dropdown menus.
• Please note that hitting the “Enter” key when working in a text-entry field will activate the “Save Animal Protocol” button and the webpage will be refreshed after saving.

Text Fields

• Large text boxes can be expanded by clicking/holding the mouse button on the bars in the bottom right corner and dragging it to the appropriate size.
• In some browser/versions, this feature is not available.
• Please note that copying and pasting text into the text box will not retain any formatting (bold/underline/italicized font, page breaks, images, etc.) 

​Repeated Question Sets

• Many of the sections include repeatable sets of questions which pertain to a specific topic (a person, procedure, drug, etc.). 
• These question sets allow answers to be provided for each individual item, and additional entries can be added until all are listed.
• Each question set is indicated by a black box surrounding the repeated area.
• For some sections, when more than one repeated set has been answered, the entries will “collapse” to make the page easy to read and navigate.
• To expand a collapsed entry, click the header or the arrowhead to the left of the desired entry.
• To add a new entry, click the “Add” button below the last question set; to delete an entry, click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the question set for that entry.

Personnel Sections

• In the three personnel sections (Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, and Technical/Student Personnel), the first question will search the University of Iowa Directory for the person being added.
  • Enter the HawkID or at least three letters of the last name of the person to be added. A spinning icon will appear to indicate that the program is searching.
  • Select the appropriate person from the list of names that appears.
  • If too many names are found, the search can be refined by adding additional characters or adding a comma after the last name, followed by the first initial/name (e.g. Doe, John)
• Once a name from the list is selected, many of the fields will be pre-populated with that person’s information from the University of Iowa Directory.
  • Confirm that all details are correct and revise/add information as appropriate.
• The Animal Use Education Course and Occupational Health Questionnaire information will be automatically populated from electronic records. If this information is incomplete for one or more person, the Animal Protocol can be submitted for review; however, final IACUC approval cannot be granted until the appropriate training and information is collected for all personnel.

Protocol Summary Page Menu Options:

• Edit – Make changes and/or submit an in-progress draft Animal Protocol or draft Amendment
• Compare – Compare an Amendment submission with a previous Animal Protocol version
• Amend – Start an Amendment to an approved Animal Protocol (Note: only one Amendment in Draft or In Review status is permitted for each Animal Protocol)
• Renew – Create a copy of an existing Animal Protocol for the purposes of continuing the same project
• Copy – Create a copy of an existing Animal Protocol to edit and submit as a new Animal Protocol (including Duplicate Submissions for funding purposes)
• View – Read-only access for the purpose of viewing and/or printing the Animal Protocol
• Withdraw – Withdraw an Animal Protocol or Amendment which is under IACUC review. This will revert the status from In Review to Draft, and allow the submission to be deleted. This option should only be used in circumstances where a PI no longer wishes for the Animal Protocol or Amendment to be submitted to the IACUC.
• Delete – Permanently delete an Animal Protocol or Amendment. This can only be done for a form in Draft status. This action cannot be reversed.

For full detailed directions of the eIACUC Program, please see the eIACUC User Guide [3].

To view, download, and/or print the eIACUC User Guide, click here:  eIACUC User Guide.pdf [5]

A PI can choose to authorize other personnel to access, edit/amend, and start new Animal Protocols in his/her name, by utilizing the Authorizations Manager.

The PI can also choose to grant one or more individual(s) permissions to make authorizations to other personnel. This permission level allows the authorized individual to perform many tasks on the PI’s behalf; however, the PI remains ultimately responsible for all activity performed under the Animal Protocol.

Authorizations Summary Page:

• Select “Authorizations” from the eIACUC Toolbar to access the Authorizations Summary page.
• The Authorizations Summary page provides a list of all Animal Protocols to which you have any level of access.
• Click the arrowhead to the left of an Animal Protocol number to view all personnel with access to that AP, including their access level.

To adjust the access level of any person listed on your Animal Protocol (or grant access to an individual not listed as personnel on your Animal Protocol), click the “Go to Authorizations Manager” button at the top of the Authorizations Summary page.

Authorizations Manager:

There are four access levels that can be selected:

• No Access: This person is listed on the Animal Protocol, but cannot access it via eIACUC.
• View Only: This person can view and print the Animal Protocol, but cannot make changes to drafts or create Amendments.
• View and Edit: This person can view/print, edit drafts, create Amendments, and submit the Animal Protocol/Amendment for IACUC review.
• Authorize Others: This person can manage authorizations on this Animal Protocol, in addition to all View and Edit actions.

All personnel listed on one (or more) of your existing Animal Protocol(s) will be initially granted “View Only” access to the Animal Protocol(s) on which they are listed.

• To change Authorizations for a listed person:

  • Click the arrowhead to the left of the person’s name to expand his/her Authorization details
  • Select the drop down at the top of the table to set a default access (applicable to all Animal Protocols listed).
  • Individual authorization levels can be managed by adjusting the drop-down menu to the right of each Animal Protocol in the table.
  • If the desired Animal Protocol to which you want to grant access does not appear (for instance, if a new AP has been added after access levels have been set for a person), click the “Update Protocol List” button at the top of the table to refresh the list of APs for which you can manage authorizations.​

• To grant access to an individual not listed on any of your Animal Protocols:

  • Use the “Authorize User” personnel selection box at the top of the page to search for the desired person by last name or hawkid.
    • This selection box functions in a similar manner to those in the Personnel Sections.
  • Once the appropriate person has been selected, click “Add Authorizations.”
  • An entry table for that person will appear in the list below and authorizations can be managed as above.

• To grant a person permission to start new Animal Protocols in your name (as the PI):

  • Select the “check box” above the AP list in that person’s authorizations table (allow user to act as your proxy)
  • This gives permission to create a new AP from a blank form and to renew or copy an existing AP. 

How do I log out of eIACUC?

Because eIACUC provides access to multiple systems using a single login, you will need to end your session by closing your browser. This will ensure that anyone that uses your computer will not automatically be logged in as you when they use your browser to go to research administration websites.  

Note: Logging out of other research administration sites may disrupt your single sign-on experience.

The eIACUC​ system allows you to sign-on to one site and navigate between research administration sites without logging on again.  Logging out of other research administration sites will end your session on on that site but not on other research sites such as eIACUC.  If you have a window open to UIRIS, HawkIRB, or other sites you reached via the portal you will continue to be able to use them, but clicking on a link to the site you logged off of will require you to log in.  Always close your browser when ending a session with your research administration sites.

The Non-surgical section of the eIACUC Animal Protocol form includes instruction to complete a table for any agents to be administered to the animal. The table includes columns for each piece of required information: Animal Protocol title, PI name, species, agent name, dose, volume, route, any potential adverse events known from the agent, and whether or not the agent is pharmaceutical grade. Diluents and vehicle controls should be included. Analgesics, anesthetics, paralytics, and euthanasia agents should not be included.

A blank form can be found here:

Agent Administration Table Template.xlsx [6]

Example (Filled) Agent Administration Table can be viewed here: 

Example Agent Administration Table.pdf [7]

Example 1:

Each group of animals will undergo surgery to place a minipump subcutaneously. Some of these animals will also have an intracerebral cannula connected to the minipump for drug delivery, while the others will have the drug delivered subcutaneously. After two to eight weeks of drug administration, groups may begin behavioral studies (procedure A, B, C, or D), which may occur as frequently as daily for up to 4 weeks, or twice weekly for up to 6 months.  Some animals may undergo a second surgical procedure to replace the minipump after 4 weeks of delivery, to provide a total of 8 weeks of continuous drug administration. Some animals will be euthanized at intervals after drug delivery without further testing, while others will be euthanized following behavioral testing of up to 6 months. The maximum time from the start of studies to euthanasia will be 8 months.

Example 2:

Each group of animals will be administered drugs by various routes over the course of up to 3 months (see drug table). Following at least one week of drug administration, blood pressure samples will be collected using noninvasive methods. Once the drug administration period is completed (up to 3 months after starting), some animals will undergo a non-survival surgery procedure for surgical blood pressure sampling procedures at various times after the last drug dose. Other groups will be euthanized and tissues collected for further analysis. Time from start of drug administration to euthanasia will be no more than 1 year.

Example 3:

Project 1) Groups of animals will be inoculated with 5 different doses of Example Virus or vehicle, with or without the addition of Example Drug A, B, or C at the time of injection. After appearance of clinical disease, some animals will receive treatment with experimental agents D, E, F, or G over the course of up to 12 weeks. Other animals will receive vehicle alone or no treatment. At time points up to 24 weeks after initial inoculation, animals will be euthanized and tissues collected.

Project 2) Animals will undergo one of 4 surgical procedures (Procedure A, B, C, or D) followed by treatment with Example Drug A, B, or C at the time of surgery. Some animals will receive treatments with agents D, E, or F as detailed above, and euthanized at up to 2 years following initial surgery.

Project 3) Animals will be given medicated feed to induce gene expression for up to 10 weeks before inoculation with Example Virus with or without Example Drug A as described in Project 1. Over the following 6 weeks, clinical signs will be evaluated and animals euthanized at various time points for tissue analysis. Some animals will undergo non-survival procedure A to analyze immune reactions, after which they will be euthanized without recovery from anesthesia. Animals will be maintained for up to 15 months post-infection before euthanasia.

Example 4:

Animals will be purchased and euthanized for the postmortem collection of tissues. No other procedures will be performed. 

Example 5:

Groups of animals will receive drug treatments by injection or in special feed for up to 8 weeks, after which they will be euthanized and tissues collected for further analysis.

E-mail: iacuc@uiowa.edu [4]

Phone: (319) 335-7985

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
L350 Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building (PBDB)
Iowa City, Iowa 52242