Membership

Application for Membership - [pdf]

The national network of Imaging Response Assessment Teams (IRATs) funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Imaging and Cancer Centers programs—The IRAT Network— is comprised of teams of radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, physicists, oncologists, and computer scientists at eight NCI-designated cancer centers. NCI sponsors the pilot project (Supplemental Award to the Cancer Center Support Grant) that created The IRAT Network, and the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) serves as the Coordinating Center.

The goals of the IRAT initiative are to advance the role of imaging in assessment of response to therapy; to increase the application of quantitative anatomic, functional, and molecular imaging endpoints in clinical therapeutic trials; and to establish oncologic IRATs as formal shared resources. The IRATs are developing mechanisms to integrate their teams of radiologists, physicists, nuclear medicine physicians, and other imaging experts into the protocol planning process and to increase clinical collaborations between imaging scientists and oncologic investigators for the purpose of identifying new imaging research opportunities in cancer clinical trials.

The IRAT Network meets monthly (by teleconference) to discuss site-specific research challenges and solutions; to discuss multi-institutional research opportunities; and to report their progress in several areas. These areas include integration of the IRAT into the concept/protocol planning process; implementation efforts as a shared resource; enhanced imaging engagement in current and future Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III clinical trials; strategies for communication of goals and objectives of the IRAT (intramural/extramural); and data sharing activities.

Membership is a mechanism through which The IRAT Network can formally share ideas and methods with imaging programs and IRAT teams in academic-based cancer centers. Membership is offered to cancer center imaging programs or IRATs that meet the inclusion criteria.

Institutions considered for inclusion in the IRAT initiative should have:
  1. An ongoing core of Phase I, II, III clinical trials (governmental, privately     sponsored, or institutional) that have been in existence for at least 2 years and     show evidence of successful trial completion.
  2. Integration of imaging methods to assess therapeutic response (not merely     imaging for staging or eligibility), or a commitment to incorporate such imaging     methods into protocol planning processes.
  3. Integration or plans for integration, where feasible, of image-guided biopsy     methods with quantitative imaging to support appropriate Phase II clinical trials.
  4. Existing core expertise (M.D. and/or Ph.D. imaging and computer scientists, as     well as imaging technologists) in various imaging modalities, with a strong focus     on quantitative methods, recognized by the institution as a functional     organizational unit. Areas of expertise should include, but not be limited to, PET     and MR imaging, along with access to specialists in conventional anatomic     imaging.
  5. A commitment to participate in image-sharing with the NCI National Cancer     Imaging Archive-caBIG initiative.
  6. Willingness to share ideas and methods with other IRAT members and Cancer     Centers.

Benefits of Membership include:
  - Access to information disseminated to grantees of the NCI-funded IRAT pilot     project including meeting summaries, recordings, reports, protocols, etc.
  - Participation in activities of IRAT subcommittees including monthly conference     calls Participation in annual meeting and workshops
  - Access to password-protected pages of The IRAT Network website
  - Space on The IRAT Network website for institution’s imaging program/IRAT
  - Access to The IRAT Network list serve
  - Advance notice of multi-institutional research activities

Procedures for Application
Membership applications may be submitted at any time. The Steering Committee reviews all completed applications and approves all Members. New members will be notified within 30 days.

Please provide a letter from the cancer center that endorses the goals of The IRAT Network, supports the activities of the imaging response assessment team (IRAT) in the cancer center, and demonstrates that the institution meets the criteria for membership. Questions regarding the membership application should be directed to Maureen Pfeifer at maureen@aaci-cancer.org or (412) 647-6331.

Please send the letter and completed application to Maureen Pfeifer at:

maureen@aaci-cancer.org
- or -
Association of American Cancer Institutes
Attn: Maureen Pfeifer
200 Lothrop Street
Iroquois Building, Suite 308
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- or -
fax: 412-647-3659

Fees:
The Association of American Cancer Institutes and the National Cancer Institute support cancer center participation in The IRAT Network as a Member. Members may be charged modest fees to participate is some activities, e.g., meetings and workshops.

Contact:
Maureen Pfeifer
Association of American Cancer Institutes
maureen@aaci-cancer.org
Direct: 412-647-6331
Fax: 412-647-3659