Renal MRI Biomarkers: The Route to Clinical Adoption

项目摘要/摘要

Project Summary/ Abstract Functional renal MRI biomarkers are underused in research and clinical practice due to the need for dedicated in-house expertise and development. Transferring solutions to other centers is therefore a challenge, leading to a significant duplication of efforts, a lack of standardization in the methods, and difficulties in comparing results between centers. This also limits commercial buy-in, hinders the establishment of multi-center trials, and overall impedes the translation of these biomarkers into clinical practice. Our proposed workshop (https://www.ismrm.org/workshops/2021/Renal/) aims to bridge this gap. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together internationally recognized scientists and clinicians with new investigators who are currently developing and applying advanced renal MRI techniques in order to investigate the causes and consequences of kidney disease. The program of this workshop integrates clinical presentations outlining the needs for non-invasive testing and biomarkers with presentations on recent advances in contrast-based MRI, new applications of relaxometry, diffusion, and elastography, multinuclear applications, pre-clinical animal studies, and application of artificial intelligence techniques. With an important focus on the next generation, the workshop will include mentoring sessions for trainees and new investigators, called “Meet the Experts.” These mentoring sessions will provide specific information on clinical trials design, funding and regulations, as well as a hands-on “how I do it” sessions on available imaging post-processing software. This workshop is designed for researchers (including Ph.D. students and postdocs); clinicians (e.g., radiologists, nephrologists, renal transplant surgeons); MR technologists; government regulatory experts; nonprofit and academic groups interested in early diagnosis of renal disease; as well as members of the ISMRM, ASN, and PARENCHIMA. The program is designed for both senior investigators and junior scientists, with relevant topics for our attendees interested in continuing medical education. It presents knowledge of new methodologies in using quantitative MRI to diagnose and monitor a range of medical conditions, e.g., renal tissue injury, oxygenation, contrast and non-contrast perfusion, renal pre-transplant and post- transplant evaluations, etc. We will provide methods for utilizing this knowledge in clinical trials and practice, as well as guidance on data analysis. A key element of our plan is to reach out to women and minorities to encourage them to attend and participate in our workshop. This workshop will be a first in North America but follows three previous European meetings co-organized by the UK Renal Imaging Network (UKRIN) and the COST action “MRI Biomarkers for Chronic Kidney Disease” (PARENCHIMA). (https://renalmri.org). These previous workshops were attended by over 150 participants and presenters. Thus, we expect robust interest in the community for the proposed workshop.