Improved Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Breast Cancer

描述(由申请者提供)：这是一项职业发展拨款建议，旨在使Glen Morrell博士(申请者)能够在乳腺癌磁共振成像(MRI)新方法的应用方面开发一项长期研究计划。莫雷尔博士于1998年在斯坦福大学获得电气工程博士学位，研究核磁共振成像的新方法。然后，他在斯坦福大学完成了医学院的学业，并在宾夕法尼亚大学获得了诊断放射学住院医师和核磁共振研究员资格。他现在是犹他大学放射学助理教授的第一年。他的目标是将他在核磁共振物理学和新的核磁共振技术方面的知识与放射学的临床实践结合起来，特别是在乳腺癌的核磁共振方面。尽管申请者接受了多年的教育，但他没有接受过电气工程方面的博士后培训，也没有机会将他在博士研究中开发的技术应用于临床相关的成像问题。请求的支持将使莫雷尔博士能够继续接受与医学成像相关的物理学和工程学方面的教育，并继续获得放射科医生的临床专业知识。在五年的资助期内，莫雷尔博士将应用他的博士研究中的多维激发技术来改进乳房MRI，并通过有限的临床试验来验证这些技术。他将对量子力学和其他与核磁共振直接相关的物理学原理有更深入的了解，目的是开发乳房的光谱成像方法。他将在临床试验的设计和研究的进行方面得到指导。拟议的研究计划的预期好处是改进乳腺癌的检测，减少良性乳腺病变的侵袭性活检数量。根据这笔赠款支持的试点研究，莫雷尔博士将提交通过R01或类似机制提供资金的建议，以维持和扩大乳腺癌磁共振成像的长期研究计划，与犹他大学肿瘤学、制药学和遗传学方面的成熟项目合作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a career development grant proposal to enable Dr. Glen Morrell (the applicant) to develop a long term research program in the application of new methods of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of breast cancer. Dr. Morrell received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford in 1998, researching novel methods for MRI. He then completed medical school at Stanford and a Diagnostic Radiology residency and fellowship in MRI at the University of Pennsylvania. He is now in his first year as Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Utah. His goal is to combine his knowledge of MRI physics and novel MRI techniques with the clinical practice of radiology, specifically in MRI of breast cancer. Despite the applicant's many years of education, he has had no postdoctoral training in electrical engineering, and has not had opportunity to apply techniques developed in his Ph.D. research to clinically relevant imaging problems. The requested support will allow Dr. Morrell to continue his education in aspects of physics and engineering related to medical imaging, and to continue to gain clinical expertise as a radiologist. During the five-year funding period, Dr. Morrell will apply techniques of multi-dimensional excitation from his Ph.D. research to improve breast MRI and validate these techniques through limited clinical trials. He will gain a greater understanding of quantum mechanics and other principles of physics directly relating to MRI with the aim of developing methods of spectroscopic imaging of the breast. He will be mentored in the design of clinical trials and the conduct of research. The expected benefit of the proposed research plan is improved detection of breast cancer and decreased number of invasive biopsies of benign breast lesions. Based on the pilot studies supported by this grant, Dr. Morrell will submit proposals for funding through R01 or similar mechanisms to maintain and expand a long term research program in MRI of breast cancer, collaborating with well established programs in oncology, pharmaceutics, and genetics at the University of Utah.