RSNA in Brief—Q2 2021

RSNA 2021 Registration Opens July 21
RSNA’s 107th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting will be held at McCormick Place November 28-December 2, 2021. RSNA 2021: Redefining Radiology will also offer a robust virtual meeting component. Meeting registration opens July 21. Hotel reservations are open now. #RSNA21

MIDRC Holds Second Town Hall
The Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC) will hold a town hall on July 22, 2021, from 1-2 pm CT. MIDRC is a large-scale de-identified dataset of medical images of COVID-19 patients and includes support for research projects that capitalize on the dataset it creates. Representatives at the town hall will provide an update on research progress, answer AI research questions and discuss how to contribute data.

Jointly developed by representatives of RSNA, the American College of Radiology (ACR), and the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), MIDRC is funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and hosted by the University of Chicago. Registration for the town hall is free and open to all.

MIDRC Funding Program Award Update and Deadline Extension
RSNA is inviting proposals for funding support to help researchers gather and submit data to MIDRC. MIDRC funding will be awarded to sites with substantial COVID-related imaging and clinical data that commit to contributing their data to MIDRC. Preference will be given to those with data representing diverse and vulnerable patient populations and other forms of data that are underrepresented in the MIDRC dataset. Award recipients can receive up to $140,000 to support personnel and other costs for a one-year project. The application deadline for the first round of funding has been extended to August 2, 2021. Learn more.

Applications Open for Next RSNA Global Learning Center
To improve radiology education and patient care around the world, RSNA developed the Global Learning Centers (GLC) program in 2019. The program aims to connect a radiology institution based in a low- or middle-income country with a team of RSNA members for an educational program to improve departmental skills and competency.

Applications are open now for the next GLC location. To be considered as a GLC, applicant institutions must be a university or hospital, be located in eligible countries (from the RSNA discounted dues list), demonstrate a need for radiology education and resources, have an established radiology department and have a designated team lead who will serve as a primary contact with English fluency. The deadline for host applications is July 31. Learn more at RSNA.org/GLC.

Tanzania Global Learning Center Receives Grant Renewal
The National Nuclear Security Administration Grant for the Tanzania Muhimbili University GLC site has been renewed for the second year. The Tanzania GLC will receive $250,000 to continue their work on improving radiology education and patient care. 

RSNA Journals Show Big Gains in Impact Factor
Radiology and RadioGraphics, RSNA’s peer-reviewed print journals, both increased their impact factors in 2020, according to the newly released Clarivate Analytics 2020 Journal Citation Reports. Impact factor measures the relevance and influence of academic journals based on citation data.

Radiology has a 2020 impact factor of 11.105, up from 7.931 in 2019. The journal’s impact factor has risen steadily since 2015. The journal was cited 72,249 times in 2020 and ranks second in impact factor among journals in the Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging category. It is the leading radiology journal and one of the top cited journals in the field.

RadioGraphics increased its impact factor from 4.967 in 2019 to 5.333 in 2020 with 16,021 citations. The popular educational journal has doubled its impact factor since 2015.

RSNA Spotlight Course: AI Implementation: Building Expertise and Influence
During this two-day live online course to be held July 21-22, from 9 am to 1 pm Central Time (CT), AI experts will share tips on how to navigate the ethical, legal and social complexities of implementing AI. Attendees will learn how to utilize AI in their practices through live demonstrations, small group work and interaction with faculty during this interactive, virtual workshop. Space is limited. Registration is now open. 

RSNA Spotlight Course: Emerging Advances in Breast Imaging
Attendees can learn diagnostic and interventional techniques and discover new technologies in breast imaging at this virtual course to be held August 27-28, Singapore Time (SGT). Registration opens July 16.

RSNA Co-sponsors COVID-19 AI Detection Challenge
In this AI competition, organized by RSNA, the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), and the Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region (FISABIO), participants will identify and localize COVID-19 abnormalities on chest radiographs, categorizing the radiographs as negative for pneumonia or typical, indeterminate, or atypical for COVID-19. Competitors will develop high quality computer vision models to detect and localize COVID-19 pneumonia to help doctors provide a quick and confident diagnosis, enabling the right treatment before the most severe effects of the virus take hold. Entry deadline is August 2. Prize money totaling $100,000 will be awarded.

RSNA 3D Printing Special Interest Group Research Grant
The RSNA 3D Printing Special Interest Group (SIG) has initiated a seed grant program for investigator-initiated research. Principal investigator(s) must be active members of the RSNA 3D Printing SIG. The goal is for the SIG research funds to be used to allow members to advance their research and demonstrate the positive impact of 3D printing in patient care. This award is a unique opportunity to build collaboration between individuals and institutions, increasing the impact of 3D printing research and enabling innovation in medical 3D printing. Areas of interest include novel clinical applications, clinical outcomes research, development of best practices, and quality assurance methods. The $1,500 grant will be awarded annually. Contact RSNA staff at 3dsig@rsna.org with questions. 

VOICE Program Registration Deadline Approaching
The RSNA Value of Imaging through Comparative Effectiveness (VOICE) Programs offers the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills that can be applied to eliciting the value and cost-effectiveness of diagnostic imaging procedures and imaging-based procedures. Beginning in September 2021, radiologists and radiation oncologists at all levels of clinical experience will participate in two interactive 1½-day online educational courses, in-person workshops and webinars over the course of nine months. The workshops will be held September 17-18, 2021, and Feb. 25-26, 2022, at RSNA Headquarters in Oak Brook, IL.

The registration fee is $975 for members, $1200 for non-members and $488 for trainees. A limited number of $1,000 awards will be available to support trainees and faculty registrants, in the form of reimbursement for course registration fees or travel expenses upon completion of the course, provided by NYU Langone Health. Registration deadline is July 31, 2021. Learn more at RSNA.org/VOICE.

Creating and Optimizing the Research Enterprise Workshop
The Creating and Optimizing the Research Enterprise (CORE) workshop will focus on strategies for developing and advancing imaging research programs in radiology, radiation oncology and nuclear medicine departments. Sessions include “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Radiology Research Teams” and “Starting, Maintaining, and Operating a Research Core.” The CORE program features a combination of presentations, case studies and group discussions. CORE will take place Oct. 28–29, 2021, at RSNA headquarters in Oak Brook, IL. The application deadline is August 15. The workshop is free. For more information, visit RSNA.org/CORE.

RSNA/ASNR/SIRF Comparative Effectiveness Research Training (CERT) Program
Applications are being accepted for the Comparative Effectiveness Research Training (CERT) Program, sponsored by RSNA, the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR), and the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation (SIRF). CERT is an interactive course in comparative effectiveness research, targeted to junior faculty, senior trainees, international radiologists and mid to senior-level faculty in the imaging sciences.

CERT provides guidance to participants to develop proposals for a grant application that could be submitted for the ASNR CER award, SIRF CER award, RSNA Scholar award, GERRAF program, or other external funding. Participants will work through a combination of online modules, a 1½-day, in-person workshop (February 10–11, 2022), web-based didactic lectures and small group web-based grant proposal review discussions, over the course of a year, beginning in October 2021. There is no fee for this course. The application deadline is August 15. For more information, visit RSNA.org/CERT.