NCI names U of Utah a Center for Quantitative Imaging Excellence

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has named Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City as a Center for Quantitative Imaging Excellence (CQIE) for its research in cancer screening, treatment and follow-up care, specifically with modalities such as mammography, PET, CT and MRI.

Quantitative imaging involves imaging at the molecular and cellular level with PET, using volumetric CT (vCT), volumetric MRI (vMRI) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI).

According to NCI, the CQIE program was necessary to establish standard operating procedures and guidelines for the new technology that would be uniform across the entire NCI network of cancer centers. Once a center has earned CQIE certification, it is deemed "trial ready," and capable of conducting NCI-sponsored clinical trials that use advanced quantitative imaging.

Mary C. Beckerle, PhD, HCI's CEO and director credited John M. Hoffman, MD, co-leader of HCI's Imaging, Diagnostics and Therapeutics Research Program and a professor of radiology and neurology at the University of Utah, for his work to obtain the NCI credential. Each approved CQIE center must be recertified annually.

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