Training Overview

Training Program Overview

We have designed a number of training activities to improve the general understanding of our technologies and to teach biomedical researchers how to use them in their own projects. Along with more traditional training experiences, we propose new approaches modeled on interdisciplinary interactions that focus on translational and clinical research training.

One of the distinguishing features of our program is that we provide to outside collaborators and users the embedded multidisciplinary interaction that is a foundation of CAI2R. A strong and unique asset of our center is the active involvement of clinicians in translational research projects. Our Department of Radiology offers a carefully-selected group of promising young radiologists 50% protected academic time together with multifaceted training in the development of independent research programs. In addition, we free appropriate subsets of our clinical radiologists from clinical duties in order to allow them to interact at the scanners with investigators as well as with industry partners and clinical stakeholders from other departments. Through these project- and patient-focused interactions as well as through regular workshops, seminars, and other fora, we aim at facilitating bidirectional teaching and learning by clinicians and basic scientists.

Our imaging research faculty are responsible for administering a degree-granting graduate program in Biomedical Imaging as part of the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at NYU School of Medicine. This graduate program trains doctoral candidates in the area of biomedical imaging with an emphasis on magnetic resonance imaging. Both our clinical and our basic science faculty teach in a yearly MR physics lecture series for clinical fellows, whose topics overlap somewhat with of our graduate curriculum but which also includes practical tips and tricks for clinical imaging. In addition, NYU Department of Radiology runs a robust and well-regarded CME program. Courses include a yearly head-to-toe review, a yearly clinical state-of-art MR course, and multiple subspecialty courses, in addition to special-topic symposia.

Our ultimate goal is to provide training not only in the successful operation and adoption of our technologies, but also in the formation and operation of successful translational research teams. For example, the Best in Practice (BIP) training program in our Department of Radiology was designed as a means of bridging the gap between state-of-the-art research and everyday clinical imaging practice within our institution. We also organize regular research updates by imaging scientists at clinical section meetings and brainstorming sessions on unsolved problems and unmet needs.