HKSTP believes in the care of animals used for scientific research that benefits the public by following the highest animal welfare standards. In line with this philosophy, the HKSTP IACUC is tasked to ensure ethical standards and guidelines on animal care and use are followed.1,2,3,4
In general, the HKSTP IACUC is responsible for:
Submit the following documents in one email to iacuc@hkstp.org, indicating the name of your company in the email subject:
**All the project personnel in any animal-use project should be in full compliance with HKSAR’s law, including (if applicable) but not limited to obtaining the corresponding license issued by the HKSAR Department of Health5. If any personnel’s license is still pending as of the HKSTP IACUC application deadline, the principal investigator may still submit an application set for the project before the deadline to HKSTP IACUC for initial review, and submit the outstanding license copy to HKSTP IACUC once available. However, the HKSTP IACUC will only grant a decision for the project after all the required documents have been reviewed.
Projects with ethics approval from another independent IACUC or AEC that meets the ethics principles and standards acknowledged by HKSTP IACUC will not need to submit a new full application to HKSTP IACUC.
For such projects that will be conducted on HKSTP premises, please submit the following documents in one email to iacuc@hkstp.org, indicating the company name in the email subject, before the project is commenced / revised / extended:
(i) Completed application form (with external ethics approval)
(ii) A copy of the external ethics approval letter #
(iii) A copy of the animal use protocol that was submitted to the external IACUC/AEC for review #
(iv) A copy of the valid license of all the personnel that will handle the live animals in the project, which was issued by the HKSAR Department of Health under Animals (Control of Experiments) Ordinance (Cap. 340)
(v) A list that shows the maximum estimated number of animals that will be used for the project in HKSTP premises at any time, as well as the total number of animals
# Either (ii) or (iii) shall indicate the specific location(s) of the use of animals in HKSTP.
The HKSTP IACUC Handbook contains policies and guidelines for the intention to safeguard the welfare and use of live animal for research purposes within the premises of HKSTP. The policies and guidelines help researchers to plan and design research protocols based on proper and accepted techniques for animal handling. HKSTP IACUC is committed to the highest standards of integrity, respect, and ethics for humane treatment of animals in research as governed by the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals, HK Code of Practice for Care & Use of Animals for Experimental Purposes, EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes.
HKSTP IACUC Handbook provides a list of policies and guidelines on animal care and use to assist researchers in designing animal protocols and performing animal procedures within the premises of HKSTP.
1. International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (2012)
2. HK Code of Practice for Care & Use of Animals for Experimental Purposes (2004)
3. EU Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes
4. Online training on 3R principles
5. HKSAR Department of Health “Application for Animal Experiment License” webpage
For enquiries or reporting of animal welfare concerns, please email iacuc@hkstp.org