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New ACRIN Fellowships in Imaging Clinical Trials: Open to All Radiologists¹

¹ From the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), American College of Radiology Research Offices, Philadelphia, Pa. Received October 8, 2002; accepted October 9. Address correspondence to the author, Department of Radiology, University of Virginia Health System, PO Box 800170, Charlottesville, VA 22908 (e-mail: bjh8a@virginia.edu)

Index terms: American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) • Editorials • Radiology and radiologists, research

The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) is a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials consortium that is devoted to conducting clinical trials of diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapy as it relates to cancer. Over 110 institutions and hundreds of radiologist researchers and imaging scientists participate in 17 multiinstitutional ACRIN trials that currently are closed and in analysis, open to patient accrual, or in development.

One of the expressed goals of ACRIN is to train a new cadre of radiologist researchers that is better able to develop and lead rigorous, multidisciplinary, multiinstitutional clinical trials. The NCI recently awarded ACRIN an R25T training grant to do exactly that. Beginning immediately, ACRIN will receive funding to recruit and train three new fellows a year, for an initial period of 3 years. In addition, the Avon Foundation—sponsor of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade—has funded ACRIN to recruit an additional fellow for this training program. The three NCI-funded fellows may have interest in any subspecialty of radiology, while the Avon Foundation–funded fellow will be sponsored to pursue training specific to clinical trials in breast imaging.

With regard to all four of these positions:

1. All radiologists are eligible for these fellowships, regardless of age and type or location of practice.

2. Fellows are required to spend 5 months over 2 years at ACRIN sites, away from their home departments.

3. The fellowships will fund travel and living expenses while the fellows are at ACRIN sites.

4. Applications for the ACRIN Fellowships may be found on the ACRIN Web site (www.acrin.org) or obtained by sending e-mail to ACRIN Headquarters (sking@phila.acr.org) or the ACRIN Chair (bjh8a@virginia.edu).

5. Applications must be submitted along with a curriculum vita and a letter of support from the applicant’s chair or supervisor no later than January 15, 2003.

ACRIN has been training fellows in clinical imaging trials for the past 2 years, employing interim funding provided by the Radiological Society of North America and the American College of Radiology. The new program expands on this program by providing for more support and supervision from the key elements of the program, the ACRIN Biostatistics and Data Management Center, the ACRIN Headquarters, and the NCI Biomedical Imaging Program. The program has both didactic and experiential components that, in concert, are intended to lead ultimately to the development of independent clinical trialists.

The training program begins with a 3-month didactic period that is composed of sequential 1-month rotations at the ACRIN Biostatistics and Data Management Center, ACRIN Headquarters, and NCI Biomedical Imaging Program. During this period, the program is tailored to fellows’ individual needs and level of experience. However, the goal of the didactic period is to teach the fellows the basics of clinical research methodology, biostatistics, trial organization, and data management and quality assurance and to introduce them to the national clinical research infrastructure. Also during this period, fellows are assigned to specific ACRIN trials, according to their interests, and become part of the trial team. This participation in ongoing ACRIN trials gives the fellows a grounding in the practical aspects of clinical trial development, implementation, and analysis.

At the conclusion of the initial 3-month didactic period—which will occur for the first group of fellows in the fall of 2003—fellows return to their home departments, where they may return to their ordinary duties. However, their circumstances must allow for them to continue with the ACRIN trials to which they are assigned and begin work on developing the concept for an ACRIN trial that they ultimately will lead as principal investigator, preferably under the guidance of a mentor at their home institution. During the 19 months following the initial didactic training, ACRIN Fellows participate in all trial team activities. They attend and present their experiences at the twice-annual ACRIN meetings, at the expense of the organization, and their progress is regularly evaluated by the Fellowship Advisory Committee, headed by the ACRIN Chair.

At the conclusion of the 2-year period, the fellows return to ACRIN sites for the final 2 months of their training. The focus here is on finalizing a protocol that the fellow will present to ACRIN and hopefully gain the organization’s agreement to pursue the trial. When ACRIN agrees to undertake a trial, it provides a complete clinical trial infrastructure, including funding for subject accrual, administration, methodological and technical support, data management, and quality assurance. ACRIN works with the principal investigator to build a multidisciplinary trial team sufficient to design, carry out, and analyze the trial according to the most rigorous standards. Also, it helps the trial team to recruit institutions and the site investigators to recruit subjects.

The ACRIN Fellowship is an opportunity for radiologists who wish the highest level of clinical research to be a major focus of their career and who are seeking training to make that goal become a reality.

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