The University of San Carlos, including its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Laboratory Animal Facility, is now accredited by the Philippine Association for Laboratory Animal Science (PALAS).

USC is the only university in the Visayas to receive this accreditation.

All researches using living animals, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, as test subjects need to pass through an IACUC screening while experiments should be carried out at the Animal Facility. This is in compliance to Republic Act No. 8485, otherwise known as the Animal Welfare Act of 1998.

Awarding of the certificates to accredited institutions was held on May 19, 2017 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas, Pasig City during the 29th PALAS Annual Scientific Conference. Dr. Danilo B. Largo, USC’s Director of Research, and Dr. Adrian Ybañez, USC’s IACUC chair, received the certificate of accreditation.

The USC Laboratory Animal Breeding Facility is also registered with the Bureau of Animal Industry, one of seven such facilities in the Visayas region.

Tags: Research