June 30, 2006 - Great Falls, VA - The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM, formerly SCAR) has announced its support of original research in imaging informatics with two $40,000 grants for 2007. The grants are part of a continuing program that has already produced innovative research that promises benefits throughout the medical enterprise.

The purpose of the grant program is to support original and practical research projects that have the potential to impact the practice of medicine and ultimately improve patient care. Any area of research involving medical imaging informatics is eligible for support, as well as development of new hardware, software, or processes to support medical practice, education, or research.

"SIIM strives to fulfill its mission by supporting and encouraging young researchers in imaging informatics," said Byrn Williamson, Jr., MD, Grants & Fellowship Committee Chair. "Each year, the bar is raised and the level and the quality of the competition increases." He noted that applicants have a high standard to meet, based upon previous projects.


Prior grants have been awarded for the study of an open-source web-based application for radiology decision support; the use of mobile computing to improve the ordering and reporting of radiology examinations in the emergency department; a "dashboard" system to display real-time information about the status of interfaces between PACS and other medical systems; and utilizing RIS and PACS to integrate "just-in-time" learning into routine daily practice.

Grantees have the opportunity to present their findings at the R&D Symposium at the SIIM Annual Meeting, which has become a forum for promising research. The recent Research & Development Symposium at the SCAR 2006 Annual Meeting was no exception, featuring two engaging and interesting presentations from the 2005 grant recipients. Link to podcasts of the presentations at http://www.scarnet.net/presentations.html.

The symposium also featured an update on the Society's TRIP^TM Initiative and a discussion of, "What is imaging informatics?" SIIM endeavors to produce a cogent and widely accepted definition of this hard-to-define term, thereby aiding others in understanding this highly complex field. Another step toward that goal is a survey (http://www.scarnet.org/II_Research_Challenges.html) currently underway to identify the top imaging informatics challenges of the next decade. The information is being captured in support of the Academy of Radiology Research's (ARR) quest to identify the top research opportunities in biomedical imaging for the next decade.

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