OLAW (Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare)

OLAW is the office within NIH's Office of the Director responsible for implementing and interpreting the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: it negotiates and approves each institution's Animal Welfare Assurance, evaluates reports of noncompliance from Assured institutions, and runs a nationwide PHS Policy education program. It governs any live vertebrate animal used in PHS-supported (including NIH-funded) research, testing, or training. OLAW does not replace an institution's own IACUC, and it does not conduct the on-site facility inspections that USDA/APHIS carries out under the Animal Welfare Act -- OLAW's authority runs through the PHS funding relationship, not independent statutory inspection power.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 23 Jul 2026

Worked examples

Is an instance

A university submits an Animal Welfare Assurance to OLAW, naming its IACUC membership, before it can receive NIH funding for a study using live vertebrate animals.

Is an instance

An Assured institution self-reports an IACUC-identified protocol deviation to OLAW, which reviews the incident and the institution's corrective action plan.

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance

A privately funded cosmetics testing lab with no PHS or NIH funding anywhere in its research chain is not subject to OLAW oversight -- OLAW's jurisdiction runs through PHS funding, not species or activity alone. That lab may still fall under USDA/APHIS inspection via the Animal Welfare Act, and may separately seek AAALAC accreditation, but neither relationship involves OLAW.

OLAW — the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare — is the office within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of the Director that administers, interprets, and monitors compliance with the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Any institution receiving Public Health Service (PHS) funding — including NIH grants and contracts — for research, testing, or training involving live vertebrate animals must hold an approved Animal Welfare Assurance on file with OLAW before funds are awarded.

Operational definition

A matter is OLAW’s business — as opposed to a matter for an institution’s own Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), or a voluntary accreditor — when it concerns one of OLAW’s four core functions: (1) negotiating and approving an institution’s Animal Welfare Assurance, (2) interpreting or applying the PHS Policy to a specific research scenario, (3) evaluating a report of noncompliance or an adverse event at an Assured institution, or (4) providing PHS Policy education and guidance. OLAW does not itself run day-to-day animal-use oversight — that is the IACUC’s job at each institution — and it does not conduct the routine, unannounced facility inspections that USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) carries out under the Animal Welfare Act. OLAW’s authority runs through the PHS funding relationship, not independent statutory inspection power.

What OLAW does

Administers the PHS Policy. OLAW is responsible for implementing and interpreting the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals for every PHS agency and every Assured institution, and issues guidance (FAQs, notices, workshops) when institutions or IACUCs need clarification.
Negotiates and approves Animal Welfare Assurances. Before an institution can receive PHS/NIH funding for live-vertebrate-animal research, it must submit an Assurance describing its animal care and use program, identifying its IACUC membership, and committing to PHS Policy standards; the Assurance is signed by the institution’s Institutional Official and filed with OLAW.
Evaluates noncompliance. Institutions are required to self-report certain events (e.g., IACUC-approved protocol deviations, unapproved procedures) to OLAW, which reviews the report, may request corrective action, and can restrict or revoke an Assurance in serious cases.
Runs a nationwide education program. OLAW offers free resources for investigators, IACUC members, and administrators, including an online orientation tutorial on working with an IACUC.

OLAW compared with related oversight bodies

OLAW is easy to conflate with the other organizations that touch research animal welfare, but each has a different legal basis and scope. The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is a federal statute enforced by USDA/APHIS through registration and on-site inspection of research facilities, and it excludes purpose-bred rats, mice, and birds — species the PHS Policy still covers when the research is PHS-funded. AAALAC International accreditation is voluntary and site-visit based, layered on top of, not a substitute for, PHS Policy or AWA compliance. OLAW itself is neither a law nor an accreditor: it is the federal office that makes the PHS Policy operational for every institution receiving PHS support, including institutions following the Ag Guide for agricultural-research animals or the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals for most laboratory species.

Worked examples

Example 1. A university preparing to submit an NIH R01 application involving mice must have an approved Animal Welfare Assurance on file with OLAW, naming its IACUC, before NIH will make an award — this is OLAW’s Assurance-approval function in practice.

Example 2. A PHS-funded lab discovers a technician performed a survival-surgery procedure not described in the IACUC-approved protocol. The institution’s IACUC investigates, and because this is a reportable deviation under the PHS Policy, the Institutional Official reports it to OLAW, which reviews the corrective action plan — this is OLAW’s noncompliance-evaluation function in practice.

Counter-example

A privately funded cosmetics company testing a product on rabbits, with no PHS or NIH funding anywhere in the research chain, is not subject to OLAW oversight — OLAW’s jurisdiction runs through PHS funding, not species or activity alone. That company may still fall under USDA/APHIS inspection via the Animal Welfare Act (rabbits are AWA-covered), and may separately seek AAALAC accreditation, but neither of those relationships involves OLAW.

Related terms

Use in your systems

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