Training
In the context of the rapidly evolving field of computer science and the dependence of the medical community on medical data acquisition, interpretation and management, the NIH Roadmap initiative lays out the need for an infrastructure comprised of common vocabularies, lexicons, and informatics platforms, so-called clinical informatics tools, that can get networks of medical researchers communicating with one another across disciplines. NA-MIC is working to solve this need in the area of medical image analysis by developing and deploying new computational tools and open-source technologies for ready and easy access by the medical community. A second goal of NA-MIC is to apply these computational tools to Driving Biologic Projects in schizophrenia, lupus, autism, velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), prostate cancer, followed by other medical and neuroscience areas fashioned after this model. As a recent NIH position paper states: "Brain imaging is one of the most rapidly advancing fields in science today. More than any other area of biology, it is a field in which the progress of research is dependent on improving technologies and computational power... Rapid improvements in brain imaging methods provide our best hope for understanding brain mechanisms that play a role in mental illness and, eventually, for improving our ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent neurologically based brain disorders." These are clear and compelling reasons to continue and strengthen existing efforts to investigate and understand the functional dyNA-MICs of the human brain. As well, they underscore the selection of brain image analysis as a good clinical starting point. The NA-MIC Training Core is actively extending this work by providing a rich program of educational experiences to participants in the project, as well as to the broader scientific community. The Training Core focuses on improving the quality of communication within and beyond the team of investigators participating in this research project, and on the provision of educational materials in formats best suited to efficient and widespread dissemination of information. Our experienced Training Core faculty, and indeed, the majority of participating scientists, each has a long and consistent track record of commitment to education as evidenced by the number of successful scientists previously trained, the number of training grants in which they participate, by the wealth of educational materials that they brought to NA-MIC Training Core activities, and the additional material they are actively creating in NA-MIC. A primary goal of our educational program is to ensure that all newly created materials meet the specific needs of trainees who come from a diverse array of backgrounds.
Specifically, the Training Core aims to:
- develop formal training guidelines that specify the educational content that will be required knowledge for all trainees;
- provide mentoring experiences to graduate students and post-doctoral and research fellows who are participating in the NA-MIC project and who need to acquire knowledge in areas outside of their primary area of expertise;
- develop a multidisciplinary collaborative work environment that is supportive of learning new areas of expertise for all participants;
- author the educational component for all image analysis and visualization tools that will be disseminated by the NA-MIC to the wider biomedical community; and
- conduct demonstrations and hands on training programs to be delivered at national and international conferences in the domains of clinical neuroscience and medical image analysis.
The achievement of these aims will provide a coherent program of training for all participants within the NA-MIC team. The many pre- and postdoctoral trainees from the NA-MIC sites who are participating in these educational experiences are excellent candidates for advanced training programs or new faculty positions in the multi-disciplinary area of medical imaging and computing.
Detailed activities of the Training Core can be found here.