Ville : Hamilton

Catégorie : Other

Industrie : Education

Employeur : McMaster University

McMaster University is consistently ranked among the top one hundred institutions in the world for the quality and breadth of its research excellence and has been recognized as Canada’s most research-intensive university for the past three consecutive years. McMaster’s Strategic Research Plan “Research for a Brighter World” identifies as a core value our commitment to ensuring ethics, equity and excellence in scholarship in all our research plans. A key element to support the university’s research mission is ethics as it relates to animal care and the Animal Care and Use Program (ACUP) which is overseen by the University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance who reports to the VPR.

Researchers across McMaster’s Faculties and at our affiliated hospital partners rely on effective oversight of animal care develop the important health-care outcomes for which we are known. One measure of McMaster’s success in this area is our ability to consistently attract high levels of merit- and competition-based peer reviewed funding. A 2017 external report on McMaster’s approach to animal care and oversight identified funding of ~$30M to the animal research group alone (2014 data).
The Animal Care Program at McMaster University operates within 8 distinct animal facilities and numerous procedural spaces across campus and in the city. Collectively, these facilities house in excess of 30,000 animals and many different species. Facilities are distributed across campus, at St. Joseph’s HealthCare, McMaster University Innovation Park, Juravinski Cancer Centre and the David Braley Research Institute (DBRI). Included there are the specialized areas of animal use such as the Level 3 biohazard unit, animal disease quarantine facilities, 2 barrier units, an axenic/gnotobiotic unit and facilities using "clean room" technology, which provides a controlled, germ-free environment in which to study host-microbial interactions. The 8 animal facilities cover more than 75,000 square feet. The veterinary staff includes University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance, the Veterinary Research Pathologist and Clinical Veterinarian. The Compliance Office includes a Compliance Coordinator and an Ethics Officer.

Job Summary: 

Reporting directly to the Deputy, Vice-President Research, the University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance provides leadership for the University on matters related to the care of animals supporting research and teaching. Through ensuring appropriate animal care education, policies, procedures and accountability to regulatory bodies, the University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance is responsible for ensuring that animal-based research at McMaster is allowed to continue.

The University Veterinarian is responsible for ensuring the provision of animal technical services. The UVDVSC oversees the Animal Care and Use Policy, provides support and guidance for Animal Use Protocol (AUP) development and serves as a qualified resource person on the Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB). The UVDVSC guards and protects the University’s reputation by ensuring the ethical treatment of animals. The UVDVSC oversees the health and welfare of all animals through an internally developed Veterinary Medical Program, Quality Assurance, Health Monitoring and Pathology Program, ensuring the provision of disease-free animal facility environments that operate within the compliance requirements of a number of regulatory bodies. The UVDVSC oversees specially trained veterinary staff and is responsible for training and educating the research community and other support staff in regard to animal care and use.

Accountabilities: 

(1) Ensures Ethical Use and Care of Animals for Research and Teaching:

The University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance (UVDVSC) oversees the Animal Care and Use Policy. To ensure ethical use of animals in research and teaching, the UVDVSC is responsible for:

• Ensuring all animal use is for the purpose of obtaining knowledge essential to preventing and curing human and animal disease; in teaching for the purpose of scientific development and technical education to ensure competent animal use

• Ensuring that qualified staff monitor each research animal for health and welfare at least daily (including weekends and statutory holidays). All needs of the animals including husbandry, treatment and research protocol management involve varying degrees of intervention and levels of participation by the Veterinary Staff, Compliance Staff and AF Staff in the research and teaching projects.
• Ensuring the proper function, sterilization and other protocols of anaesthetic, surgical and other specialized equipment.
• As most of the animals are Genetically Engineered Mice (GEMs), many of which are immuno-suppressed and susceptible to infectious agents, ensuring housing in special, high technology environments that are considered disease-free or ultraclean. Ensuring protection of GEMs includes unique training and education of technical personnel in regard to specialized procedures; oversight of the Veterinarian Research Pathologist in regard to identification of outbreaks, diagnosis of problems and recommendations of appropriate treatment.

(2) Accountability to External Legislative Bodies

This position is responsible for ensuring that McMaster and its affiliated satellite animal facilities (AFs) and related protocols comply with all agencies overseeing and/or regulating the use of laboratory animals in Canada to ensure continuous operation and funding for animal-based research. Ontario institutions undertaking animal-based research are in a unique situation, as Ontario is one of the few provinces that has both federal and provincial oversight, through the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) and the Animals for Research Act overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

The University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance is the final decision maker to ensure these operations are in full compliance with the CCAC and OMAFRA and advises the CAF Director and Mangers how to alter operations to meet regulators requirements and has final say on operations through-out the 8 facilities in Hamilton.

The University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance is responsible for ensuring that McMaster and its affiliates’ veterinary health and pathology programs - which include a clinical care, surgical program, import/export program and quality assurance program – and the Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) operate in compliance with the legislation, policies and guidelines of:

• the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) which oversees the ethics of the research and which introduces updated guidelines on a regular basis
• the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) which provides licensing under the provincial Animals for Research Act
• the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
• the College of Veterinarians of Ontario
• the Veterinarian's Act
• the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Health Canada policies and directives including the Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines
• the Environment Canada New Substances Regulations
• the Narcotic Drug Act
• the Bureau of Drug Surveillance
• the Criminal Code of Canada as it pertains to the humane treatment of animals
• the Occupational Health and Safety Act

The University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance:

• serves as the primary contact for these key external partners
• has the authority to intervene as outlined in the CALAM/ACMAL Standards of Veterinary Care of the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Medicine (2007).
• is responsible for Reporting Animal Use and census on campus as per CCAC and OMAFRA regulations to outside governing bodies. oversees and responds to animal incidents and submits reporting internally and externally as required as per CCAC requirements.
• oversees and directs inspection and assessment visits of the CCAC and OMAFRA. Responds to the citations and recommendations made by both agencies on behalf of the Vice President, Research.

(3) Risk Management: Establishment and Oversight of Compliance Required for Continued Operation:

The University Veterinarian and Director of Veterinary Services and Compliance:

• guards and protects reputation risk through appropriate oversight of animal care and use
• oversees all animal-care
• oversees and ensures that a strict veterinary care program and pharmacy is in place with-emergency, triage, quarantine, surgical and medical care facilities available to operate the appropriate veterinary medical program necessary to maintain thousands of rodents and many other species with their different health issues and breeding programs across 8 facilities city-wide
• reviews invasive surgical procedures and complex surgeries
• performs invasive and complex surgeries for faculty who are not trained MD surgeons.
• remains up to date with new and updated CCAC guidelines which are introduced on a regular basis; ensures that McMaster’s new or amended policies and procedures adhere to these evolving guidelines and regulations
• oversees that strict adherence to McMaster Universities’ Occupational Health and Safety program and guidelines is accomplished
• works with the privacy office to address increased demands from the public through Freedom of Information requests about the location of various species of research animals, procedures and humane endpoints in research protocols. Ensures housing and investigator details remain confidential, providing protection for investigators and animals
• participates in a variety of activities of the AREB Crisis Management Program to ensure ongoing ability to respond appropriately to animal activists or other threats to the University’s animal care and use programs
• manages, advises, reviews and provides final approval on AUPs, amendments and annual reviews which document and outline all aspects of the proposed animal use. These AUPs must be submitted to the Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) for review and approval. McMaster University has in excess of 220 AUPs, each AUP adding between 10 – 20 amendments over a 4-year period
• follows up with investigators post-AREB review to ensure the AUP document has met all requirements set out by AREB before final approval is given
• authors and maintains the AUPs held by McMaster animal facilities and Veterinary Staff
• directs and participates in the emergency on call veterinary service for all animal facilities that provides emergency care 365 days per year, 24 hours per day
• directs the surveillance of health status of commercial suppliers and quality assurance activities
• adapts into the existing program readily ongoing changes in technology and science that pertain to animal-based research
• to ensure a smooth transition while maintaining compliance, to minimize risk will, as the senior leader, assist the VPR in transitioning McMaster’s oversight of animal care to a new organization structure
• provides strategic guidance and oversight for and during transition to new structure; develops communication plan, assists veterinary and AF staff with adjusting to changes in roles and/or reporting.
• oversees the management of disease outbreaks
• oversees the zoonotic disease management program within Animal Facilities

(4) Development of Policies and Procedures:

• oversees the Animal Care and Use Policy, maintaining assurance that all animal use is for the purpose of obtaining knowledge essential to preventing and curing human and animal disease; eliminating pain and suffering; and in teaching for the purpose of scientific development and technical education to ensure competent animal use
• establishes new McMaster Animal Research Ethics Board (AREB) policies
• establishes an audit program to evaluate more than 220 existing Animal Protocols
• supervises AREB’s Ethic’s Officer and the Compliance Officer who organizes the post approval monitoring and audit program for McMaster.
• sets guidelines and operating procedures for all animal-based research facilities at McMaster University and affiliates
• directs the development and implementation of standard operating procedures related to animal health, quality control, research variables for all significant medical, surgical or regulatory procedures in all animal facilities as required by animal regulatory agencies.

(5) Training and Education:

• directs veterinary staff involved in oversight of the Animal Facilities
• responsible for training technical staff in providing veterinary care services to all McMaster University and affiliated animal facilities
• oversees the development, assessment and training of all Animal Facility Staff on the scope of the AREB Crisis Management Program
• provides significant levels of training and education to others who don’t report to this position, including principal investigators and responsible faculty holding and updating the Biosafety Utilization Protocol for all animal facilities
• oversees the training and education of over 850 annual registrants who participate in one or more of 25 different courses related to the use of animals for research and teaching. Oversight includes teaching, annual reviews and approval of any changes to the program and ensuring that training is in compliance with the CCAC core curriculum guideline. Participants include undergraduate and graduate students, research technicians and principal investigators. Anyone wishing to interact with research animals in any way is required to attend some of these courses and as interdisciplinary collaborations increase and emerging areas of research are identified, additional education regarding animal care and ethics is required
• provides effective education and oversight regarding animal care and use to private sector entities engaging in research on our campus
• responds to research needs of investigators and their staff (>700 individuals) as it pertains to research animals.
• directs compliance/ethics staff supporting the McMaster University AREB

(6) Subject Matter Expert to Internal Committees:

• as the primary subject matter expert, provides advice to the university in planning for strategic initiatives; this includes initiatives of high impact such as development of a pandemic preparedness institute which will require a new animal facility including BSL3. This initiative will increase the scope and workload of the UVDVSC.
• serves as a qualified resource person on the McMaster Universities’ Animal Research Ethics Board, Presidential Biosafety Advisory Committee and Risk Management Committee
• chairs McMaster University’s Animal Users Committee and St. Joseph's HealthCare Animal Users Committee. Provides regulatory oversight and veterinary supervision to David Braley Research Institute Animal Facility
• chairs AREB subcommittee and oversees regulatory audits by AREB subcommittees of all animal facilities including lab space and procedures used for animal research and teaching along with consulting with animal users to ensure reasonable animal regulatory compliance
• provides consultation to investigators for pre-AREB Animal Use Protocol (AUP) preparation, experimental design, animal model selection, and participates in the formal AREB review process
• veterinary resource to the Pedagogical Merit Committee
• member of Faculty of Health Science Crisis Support Team

(7) Official External Liaison:

• interacts in an official capacity with the OMAFRA Inspectorate, CCAC, Canadian Bureau of Drug Surveillance, Heath Canada, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on behalf of McMaster University. Effective liaison services are critical to these regulatory bodies who regulate McMaster’s rights to continue to engage in animal-based research
• holds the Qualified Person in Charge (QPIC) status with the Bureau of Drug Surveillance for the Controlled drugs (narcotics) used in research animals in the animal facilities interacts both directly and indirectly with media agencies that make enquiries about or give media coverage to animal-based research at McMaster University