Mission Statement:

The University of Connecticut’s IBC is committed to promoting research innovations by ensuring all recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules and biological agent/toxin experimentations are conducted in full compliance with NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), current edition. With the cooperative effort of Principal Investigators, we will assess the health and safety impacts, increase investigators understanding of federal, state, and local regulations, and promote the safe use of research materials.

Overview:

The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) was established to review research and teaching activities that involve recombinant or synthetic-nucleic acid molecules (r-sNA), biological agents or toxins. The purpose of the review process is to ensure the University activities comply with government regulations and provide appropriate safeguards for human health and the environment.

The IBC oversight process is based on the requirement that all biological research that falls within the committee’s purview is registered, reviewed, and approved on a recurring basis at meetings of the IBC. The IBC review and approval process is based on the completion and submission of the IBC Registration form to the IBC Office.

The IBC provides guidance on research safety issues as described in the NIH Guidelines (Section IV-B-2-b). For example, the IBC will assess facilities, incidents, procedures, practices, training and expertise of personnel involved with r-sNA research. The IBC will ensure compliance with all necessary health surveillance, data reporting, and adverse event reporting requirements. The IBC also works to ensure compliance with other relevant federal and state regulations.