As imaging research programs at institutions nationwide find themselves with new opportunities thanks to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap for Medical Research, RSNA has stepped up to assist researchers wanting to capitalize on newfound infrastructure, resources and collaborative environments.

Daniel C. Sullivan, M.D.

One of the themes of the NIH Roadmap, developed in 2003, was Re-engineering the Clinical Research Enterprise. The resulting Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Consortium, launched in October 2006, began with 12 awards, expanded to 24 last September and anticipates about 60 awardee institutions when fully implemented in 2012.

To encourage the best opportunities for imaging research within these awardee institutions, RSNA brought together imaging investigators from CTSA sites last November. Subsequent discussions with the National Center for Research Resources, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and National Cancer Institute staff have led to an RSNA and NIH partnership, facilitating information exchange and development of collaborative projects for all imaging entities within the CTSA Consortium. This partnership will be fueled by regular conference calls, a wiki and project-specific workshops.

RSNA focuses its efforts by establishing a role for imaging within all the CTSA Program goals:

• Captivate, advance and nurture a cadre of well-trained multi- and inter-disciplinary investigators and research teams

• Create an incubator for innovative research tools and information technologies

• Synergize multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary clinical and translational research and researchers to catalyze the application of new knowledge and techniques to clinical practice at the front lines of patient care

RSNA is also working to broaden the reach of its informal imaging research network by coordinating with other groups such as the NCI-funded Imaging Response Assessment Teams (IRATs).

This network is just one example of the activities the RSNA Board of Directors is developing to advance objective and quantitative methods in radiology. From Roentgen’s discovery more than a century ago to imaging biomarkers identified just yesterday, RSNA remains committed to keeping imaging not only relevant, but also critical, to medicine.

Daniel C. Sullivan, M.D., is RSNA Science Advisor and chair of the RSNA Research Development Committee. Dr. Sullivan is a professor in the Department of Radiology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. and director of the Imaging Program at Duke Cancer Center.