Research, instruction and testing activities that involve vertebrate animals are regulated by federal, state, local and institution regulations and policies.  Approximately 85% of the animals used for research are laboratory mice and rats (National Association for Biomedical Research).  Consequently, common and best practices for reviewing and performing activities involving these species and other traditional laboratory animals have been established due to ongoing repetition among institutions. 

A regulatory expectation is for principle investigators and IACUCs to minimize the pain and distress animals experience as part of research, teaching and/or testing activities.  Since the animals are unable to tell “us” when they experience pain, stress and/or distress, regulatory expectations direct IACUC administrative community members to consider that “procedures that cause pain or distress in human beings may cause pain or distress in other animals” (US Government Principle IV).  Although the application of this philosophy may be easily interpreted as it relates to painful situations, the same correlation may not be as obvious when evaluating circumstances that cause stress and/or distress.     

During this webinar, Emily Jutkiewicz (Chair-Elect of the Behavioral Pharmacology Division of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics) and Noel Ramsey (UM QA analyst) will help us uncover ideas to consider when evaluating the amount of stress and/or distress that is associated with an animal activity.  After their presentations, we will have an opportunity for questions and answers. 

Meeting Co-Facilitators and Presenters

Bill Greer, BS:  received his Bachelor’s in Microbiology from Penn State University in 1985.  He currently serves as the Assistant Vice President for Research at the University of Michigan.  His previous roles included Associate Director for Research Compliance at the Pennsylvania State University, and research technician, production manager and Safety Officer at Intervet, State College, PA (Formally Tri Bio Laboratories).  In 2005, he organized and held the first IACUC Administrators’ Best Practices Meeting, which establish a venue for administrators meet informally and discuss programmatic concerns.  He continues to facilitate at least three annual Best Practice meetings.  In 2007, he initiated the process of establishing the IACUC Administrators Association (IAA), which is a professional organization of IACUC Administrators.  In 2010, he chaired the founding committee for the non-profit education based IAA organization.  He now serves as the president and chair of the IAA board of directors.  Since 2007, Bill has served as ad hoc specialist to AAALAC Council where he participates in institutional program reviews, assessments, and status determinations.  He served as a member of the Council of Certified Professional IACUC Administrators (CCPIA).  He continues to facilitate training activities at multiple venues including PRIM&R, AALAS, BTAA, C3, and both IACUC and IBC Administrators Best Practice Meetings.

Ron E. Banks, DVM:  received his veterinary degree from Auburn University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and retired a Colonel from the United States Army Veterinary Corps.  After postings as the Director, Center for Comparative Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado; and Director, Office of Animal Welfare Assurance at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina; he currently serves as the Director, Division of Comparative Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  Along his professional journey he has contributed as Council Member on AAALAC’s Council on Accreditation; Chairman of the American Veterinary Medical Association’s Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee; Board Member for the IACUC Administrator’s Association; and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice.  Dr. Banks is board certified with the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine; the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine; and he is a Charter Diplomate of the American College of Animal Welfare.

Emily Jutkiewicz, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair for Education in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her research program focuses on understanding the developmental and opioidergic mechanisms involved in addiction and finding novel treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases. Dr. Jutkiewicz attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts for her undergraduate studies and graduated with a B.S. in biopsychology. She worked for a number of years as a research technician at McLean Hospital studying the behavioral effects of drugs in squirrel monkeys before starting graduate school. Dr. Jutkiewicz received her PhD in the 2004 in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan from the laboratory of Dr. James H Woods. In her career thus far, Dr. Jutkiewicz has published 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles and served as editor of a volume of the Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology on Delta Opioid Receptor Pharmacology and Therapeutic Applications. She has also received grant awards from the NIDA, NIMH, and the PhRMA Foundation. Currently, she serves as a member of the University of Michigan IACUC, the Chair-Elect of the Behavioral Pharmacology Division of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and the US Editor of the journal Behavioral Pharmacology.

Martha Keller, DVM, MS, DACAW is the Assistant Director for Animal Welfare operations with USDA Animal Care. She received her DVM from Oklahoma State University and completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at the University of Florida. She completed two post-doc positions, one in marine mammal pathobiology with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in St. Petersburg, FL and another in marine finfish aquaculture with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego, CA. She's worked as the head veterinarian at a wildlife rehabilitation center and for a marine park in the Cayman Islands.  She joined the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2015 as the project leader for the Southwest regional aquatic animal health laboratory in Dexter, NM. After several years in NM, she moved to Atlanta, GA to serve as the At-risk species coordinator for the Southeast region, focusing on the preventing species from becoming listed. She has been with USDA Animal Care since February 2020.

Jane Na, D.V.M. is a Veterinary Medical Officer in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW), and the Director, Division of Assurances and provides support to the Division of Compliance Oversight. Some of her duties include negotiation of Animal Welfare Assurances, review of compliance cases, and review of Vertebrate Animal Sections, which describe proposed animal activities in grant and contract applications. Dr. Na completed her laboratory animal medicine residency as well as her Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology and Cognitive Science at the University of Michigan and attained her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University. Prior to joining OLAW, Dr. Na was the Lead Analyst at the University of California San Francisco in the Institutional Animal Care and Use Program office.

Noel B. Ramsey, MS, CPIA, LVT, LATG is a graduate of Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science. From there she went to work for the University of Michigan performing acute cardiovascular procedures in dogs.  Later, she took her LATg AALAS exam and then went on to work in industry with Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davies and Pfizer companies.  While at Parke-Davis, she went back to school and obtained her License as a Veterinary Technician, which she keeps current today. Noel started in Cardiovascular research but did the bulk of her work in Behavioral Pharmacology where she co-managed a colony of macaque primates.  With the closing of Pfizer, in Ann Arbor, Noel went to Eastern Michigan University to start her Master’s in Clinical Research Administration while working in veterinary blood banking with Animal Blood Resources, Inc. Here she organized a clinical trial on the use of lyophilized platelets in dogs.  Three years later, she came full circle back to the University of Michigan to work in the Animal Care and Use Office.  Here she finished her MS and obtained her CPIA and continues to work as a PI Advocate and a Quality Assurance Specialist.

Meeting Times are Eastern Standard Times