Radiology Research

Research is one of the core missions of the Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging at Cincinnati Children’s. In terms of peer-reviewed publications, funding and faculty size, we are one of the highest ranked pediatric radiology departments in the United States. Our research activities are divided into three, often overlapping, parts:

• Imaging Research Center (IRC), a shared facility
• Basic and Translational Radiology Research (performed by PhD faculty based within the IRC)
• Clinical Radiology Research (performed by clinical pediatric radiologist faculty) 

The IRC has state of the art instrumentation of animal and human imaging, and is capable of imaging patients of all ages. There is conscious parity between MR imaging and ultrasound systems in the IRC and the clinic to enable translation of research and discovery between environments.

The Radiology Resource Utilization Committee (RRUC) based in the Department of Radiology provides approval for imaging research in both the IRC and Clinical Radiology. The RRUC can connect investigators to imaging research resources, including potential collaborators, and can provide guidance for imaging study conduct. The RRUC can be reached at: imagingresearch@cchmc.org.

Imaging Research Center 

The Imaging Research Center (IRC) is a shared facility in the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation that is operated by the Department of Radiology. The IRC also has numerous personnel dedicated to research, including clinical research coordinators and image analysts. Dedicated research equipment includes:

• 3T MRI (three scanners)
• 1.5T MRI 
• 7T MRI
• Animal interventional suite
• Neonatal 1.5T MRI
• High-intensity focused ultrasound unit
• Ultrasound

Basic and Translational Radiology Research

The Department of Radiology houses approximately 11 PhD faculty members as well as postdoctoral students, other trainees, and staff. This is a multi-disciplinary, integrated research program focused on aspects of imaging applications. These faculty members are based within the IRC.

Areas of expertise include: 

• Abdominal imaging
• Artificial intelligence
• Cardiopulmonary imaging
• Coil and equipment design
• Fetal MRI
• Health services research
• Interventional radiology
• Molecular imaging
• MR elastography
• MR-guided interventions
• MR spectroscopy
• MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy
• Neonatal MRI
• Neuroradiology
• Small animal imaging
• Ultrasound 

Clinical Radiology Research

Clinical radiology research emphasizes analysis of existing clinical imaging data, research imaging of clinical patients, and translation of new imaging techniques and analyses (often initially developed in the IRC) to clinical care. Quality and practice improvement as well as healthcare economics are additional areas of emphasis.

Research imaging available in the clinical space includes:

• CT
• Interventional radiology
• MRI
• PET
• Radiography and fluoroscopy
• SPECT
• Ultrasound