Following a two-day site visit in March, the Division of Research is pleased to announce that the animal research program at the University of Houston has received continued accreditation through AAALAC International.

This voluntary accreditation has been achieved by more than 1,000 companies, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other research institutions in 47 countries. In 1986, UH was first accredited and has gone through a re-accreditation process every three years. Much of this process is not seen by the research community but requires efforts from the IACUC, Animal Care Operations and other departments such as Environmental Health and Life Safety.

During an AAALAC site visit, animal housing/surgical facilities and research labs are closely inspected, as are IACUC-approved protocols, committee operation, policies and incident reviews. The state-of-the-art animal facility is an excellent example of innovations utilized to decrease the HVAC needed to meet the standards and save money for the University without compromising animal welfare. The site visitors complimented the UH program and had very few suggestions for improvement, which have since been addressed. There were no mandatory findings requiring correction.

AAALAC works with institutions and researchers to serve as a bridge between progress and animal well-being. This is done through AAALAC's voluntary accreditation process in which research programs demonstrate that they meet the minimum standards required by law, and are also going the extra step to achieve excellence in animal care and use.

The Division of Research would like to thank our research teams, Animal Care Operations and IACUC staff for their preparation and continued commitment to a Tier One animal care and use program.