Bracco Endows R&E Foundation Grant
Twenty years after Bracco became an inaugural member of the RSNA Research & Education (R&E) Foundation Vanguard program, Bracco is recommitting itself to funding radiology's future.
Bracco Diagnostics has made the first payment toward a new, 20-year, $600,000 endowment of an R&E Foundation grant.
"Bracco's support of RSNA's R&E Foundation demonstrates our corporate commitment to advancing the science of radiology and finding new ways to improve patient care and increase the safety of diagnostic imaging," said Tony Lombardo, COO of Bracco Diagnostics. "It also helps support a core corporate initiative of supporting students in their educational pursuits."
The Research Resident Grant offers young investigators not professionally established in the radiologic sciences an opportunity to gain further insight into scientific investigation and to develop competence in research techniques and methods. Corporate donors can support emerging researchers through R&E's Vanguard program.
Said Lombardo, "Our ongoing support of scientific research and personal and professional development is at the heart of our theme, 'Committed to Science. Committed to You.'"
Bracco Diagnostics develops a range of clinical agents for cardiac, vascular, abdominal and neuroimaging, with a mission focused on developing high-quality processes and products that are well tolerated, more effective and increasingly in tune with the needs of patients and physicians.
Since the formation of the Vanguard program in 1989, companies in the industry have committed more than $20 million to fund radiologic research and education. Bracco's donation will be applied to the Foundation's $15 million Silver Anniversary Campaign. For more information about corporate and individual giving, visit RSNA.org/Foundation.
SIR Welcomes UFE Recommendations
The Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) has applauded recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) that uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) is a "safe and effective option."
In a recent practice bulletin, "Alternatives to Hysterectomy in the Management of Leiomyomas," ACOG listed UFE among Level A treatment options, meaning that the minimally invasive treatment is considered safe and effective based on long- and short-term outcomes data. Level A evidence is the highest grade possible.
"This is especially significant news for the 200,000 women who have hysterectomies performed annually in the United States to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids," said SIR President John A. Kaufman, M.D. "Many of these women can confidently choose UFE."
CMS Considers Broadening PET Coverage
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering a request from imaging groups to broaden Medicare coverage of PET for cancers including brain, cervical, bladder, small-cell lung, ovarian, testicular, prostate, kidney and pancreatic.
Imaging organizations, including the Academy of Molecular Imaging, pointed to a recently released study showing clinicians changed the intended care of more than one in three cancer patients as the result of FDG-PET findings. The study, using data from the National Oncologic PET Registry, was published in the May 1, 2008, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
In 2005, CMS said that it would cover PET for the cancers if the patients were enrolled in the registry. The imaging representatives maintain there is now enough evidence to support coverage without registry enrollment.
CMS is expected to make a draft decision in January and a final ruling in April. For more information regarding this issue and other CMS decisions on imaging coverage, go to the Medicare Coverage Center at www.cms.hhs.gov/center/coverage.asp and click NCAs (National Coverage Analyses) in the Spotlight section.
ABR Seeks Associate Executive Director Applicants
The Board of Trustees of the American Board of Radiology (ABR) seeks applications for the part-time position of associate executive director (AED) for radiation oncology.
The new AED will work closely with the executive director and the AED for administration to coordinate and execute the ABR Strategic Plan and policy decisions of the ABR Board of Trustees. The AED will also work with ABR division chairs on operational matters, systems analysis and quality improvement and with the AEDs for diagnostic radiology and radiologic physics to coordinate policy and the specifics of implementation across the three disciplines.
The AED for radiation oncology will serve as an ABR spokesperson at the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), at annual meetings of major radiologic societies and at leadership meetings of ABR and specialty societies. The position also requires participation in ABR research and authoring/co-authoring ABR publications and communications.
Candidates must be current or former ABR trustees. The anticipated start date is July 2009. People interested in the position should contact ABR before March 1:
Gary J. Becker, M.D.
Executive Director
The American Board of Radiology
5441 East Williams Blvd., Suite 200
Tucson, AZ 85711
Phone: 1-520-790-2900
gbecker@theabr.org
NIH Funds Biomedical Technology Research Centers
A center for MR imaging of neurodegenerative disorders is one of two Biomedical Technology Research Centers (BTRCs) to be funded by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH has committed an estimated $11 million over the next five years to fund the two centers.
The Northern California Institute for Research and Education in San Francisco will receive approximately $6 million to develop the MR imaging center. The center will develop innovative imaging techniques designed specifically to better diagnose and treat diseases including Alzheimer, Parkinson and Lou Gehrig.
The other BTRC award will go to the University of California, San Diego, to establish a new center for computational mass spectrometry that will serve as an international resource in proteomics, enabling more research activities and investigation into unexplored areas of computational proteomics.
