CTSC:TTIC.101408

Back to Collaboration:Harvard_CTSC
Action Items (details below)

1. Look over the Imaging Navigator job description and think about possible triage person candidates

Harvard Translational Imaging Consortium Meeting Minutes October 7, 2008

In Attendance (via phone):

• Laura Alice
• Randy Gollub
• Carolyn Zyloney
• Annick D van den Abbeele
• Simon Warfield
• Gordon Harris
• Clare Tempany
• Ron Kikinis

1. Consultation Service

• Gordon Harris completed the first consultation request that was submitted to the Imaging Consortium.

• The Consortium discussed and proposed this as our plan and Carolyn will verify that it fits in with the Biostatistics and Genetics CTSC group's consultation service:
  • Triage of consultation requests will be completed quickly. It is estimated that 2-5 days should be allotted for triage.
  • The investigator who submitted the request will receive a response in approximately 2 weeks, depending on the scope of the request.
  • The consultation service is not an emergency service that can provide immediate responses to investigators.
  • Once a final time course for imaging consultation requests is agreed upon, this information should be posted on the consultation service web-page to inform investigators seeking a consult.

• The issue of assigning a person to handle the consultation requests was also raised.
  • Until a triage person can be hired, triage will be handled by Carolyn who will forward requests to the Consortium members.
  • There is personnel available from each institution (see the table on the consultation service wiki page to handle consultation requests.

• The consultation service is available to assist investigators in examining whether the imaging component of their study is viable and working with investigators to polish the technical/imaging-related language of their grants; it is not meant to be an editing resource for investigators. Randy Gollub pointed out that Ted Stern from the MGH Psychiatry Department runs a Scientific Writing workshop, which is one example of the kind of resources that may be useful to help investigators polish their scientific writing skills. Carolyn has sent an official request to CTSC Central to compile a list of other editing resources, so we can direct investigators seeking editing to the appropriate place.

2. Communication with Imaging Community

• Gordon Williams will obtain the CTSC central prepared PowerPoint presentation. The Imaging Consortium will work together at the next meeting to prepare additional slides about the Imaging Consortium and its consultation service.
• Consortium members will use this PowerPoint to present the CTSC Imaging Consultation Services at the Radiology Division Heads Meetings within each institution. We should also prepare a handout with the contact information of the Consortium members to be given out at these meeting. The Consortium needs to obtain the contact information for key members of the Radiology departments who have expertise not already represented in the Imaging Consortium and could possibly assist with consults.

3. Imaging Navigator Job

• Randy has updated the final Imaging Navigator job description. Please suggest all desired edits to this job description ASAP as it will be sent to HR and posted this week.
• The job description can be sent to the HR departments at Harvard, and all the participating institutions within the CTSC.
• Consortium members and personnel within the Radiology Departments at each institution may be able to suggest suitable job candidates.
• Annick proposed that the job be posted on the RSNA web-site.
• It was originally proposed that the Navigator be hired through Harvard. However, if the successful candidate already works at one of the participating institutions, the Navigator may be hired through that site and funds will be transferred to support the Navigator's salary.

4. Medical Imaging Informatics/XNAT/ Medical Imaging Data Transfer update

• The CTSA Image Sharing Infrastructure ProposalMeeting will be held on November 7th in Chicago.
  • There is a proposal for additional funding from NCRR and possibly NIBIB to support the costs of developing an image sharing protocol.
  • The group suggested that Bill Hanlon, Ron Kikinis, and Ramin Khorasani (BWH), represent the Harvard CTSC and BWH at this meeting. Charles Guttman (BWH) is also attending.
  • The Imaging Consortium will discuss the funding for this meeting and who the representatives for the Harvard CTSC will be during next week's t-con.

• The RSNA meeting for the CTSA is scheduled for December 2nd.

• Doug MacFadden has agreed to invite the Imaging Consortium to one of the CTSC IT Central Group meetings. The tentative date for this meeting is October 28th from 9:30 - 10:30, pending confirmation from key members of the Imaging Consortium. The Imaging Consortium's weekly meeting will immediately preceed will meet in Harvard's Countway Library from 8:30 - 9:30.

• The Consortium decided to focus on a case-by-case basis instead of a global plan for designing the integration of medical image informatics with i2b2. It is hoped that each case will help refine i2b2 until it is universally useful.
  • A representative from Beth Israel expressed an interest in increasing their level of access at TIMC. The Consortium encouraged him, noting that it fits into the case-by-case plan for developing i2b2.

• Dr. Smoller (Genetics) noted that i2b2 will assist in the development of a new type of research. i2b2 is useful for making queries about diagnoses, allowing investigators to find relevant clinical scans for their research.

• The acquisition of new equiptment and software at each institution should be documented.

• A tremendous amount of information can be obtained from intelligent mining of the DICOM header. However, software tools have to be customized to read the header file.

• The Consortium agreed that addressing HIPAA issues early on is key.

5. Education update

• The first educational courses have been posted for registration.
• Additional courses will be planned at a future meeting of the Imaging Consortium.