Webinar Objectives

The objective of each webinar is to provide participants the opportunity to discuss common practices used across the IACUC administrative community.  During the webinar, a specific topic will be analyzed by meeting facilitators and attendees to identify and refine practices that can be used to achieve desired goals. 

To help initiate the discussion, one of our colleagues from the IACUC administrative community will present ideas that focus on the topic of choice.  Colleagues from OLAW and the USDA will participate in our discussions and help to refine and validate practices.  Attendees are encouraged to submit (wggreer@umich.edu) questions PRIOR TO the webinar and will be encouraged to interact by discussing their own institutions practices.

Topic Summary

During this webinar, Erin Czarniak, Director of Quality Assurance, University of Michigan will initiate a discussion on a new approach for performing Post-Approval Monitoring visits. She will discuss how to develop a partnership with animal users, and how that partnership can lead to PIs have an active and engaged role in the daily activities of an Animal Care and Use Program. The premise is that the product of having engaged PIs is a compliant program.         

Meeting Co-Facilitators

Bill Greer:  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.  In 2007, he initiated the process of establishing the IACUC Administrators Association (IAA), which is a professional organization of IACUC Administrators.  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, and both IACUC and IBC Administrators Best Practice Meetings.

Ron E. Banks:  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; and the Director, Division of Comparative Medicine, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; he is currently retired.  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.

Guest Faculty

Eilis Karr, Veterinary Medical Officer with the USDA, APHIS

Robyn Engel, NIH OLAW, Division of Assurances

Erin Czarniak, BS:  has been the Assistant Director of Quality Assurance in the Animal Care and Use Office (ACUO) since 2018. She joined the ACUO in 2016 as a Quality Assurance Specialist and played an integral part in the program’s development. She previously worked as a Controlled Substance Monitor for the U-M Office of Research from 2015-2016 where she launched the highly successful Controlled Substance Monitoring Program. From 2009-2015 she work for the U-M Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine where she gained husbandry and leadership experience. Czarniak has strong management and program development skills. She received her Bachelor of Science from Michigan State University in 2008 and has since completed the ALAT, LAT, LATg and CPIA

The meeting times are Eastern Time Zone