Chair: Craig Walker, M.D.
No. of people in department (faculty/staff):
87 total
- 39 faculty
- 2 physician assistants
- 25 residents
- 6 fellows
- 6 research technologists
- 9 administrative staff employees
New faculty:
Michael Soloman, M.D., associate professor – joined July 2011
Medical Degree: University of Toronto
Residency: Internal Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Residency: Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit
Fellowship: Interventional Radiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine
American Board of Radiology Diagnostic Radiology Certificate
Mark Keiper, M.D., associate professor – joined Sept. 2011
Medical Degree: University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia
Residency: Internal Medicine, Lankenau Hospital, Wynnewood, Pa.
Residency: Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Fellowship: Neuroradiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
American Board of Radiology Diagnostic Radiology Certificate and Neuroradiology Certificate of Added Qualifications
Collaborative Research Program:
Center of Quantitative Imaging Excellent (CQIE) – The radiology department has been certified by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network as one of just 54 CQIE qualified sites in the United States. The primary objective of the CQIE program is to establish a resource of “trial ready” sites with the NIH National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers capable of participating in multicenter quantitative imaging trials. The CQIE program established benchmarks for quantitative imaging parameters involving PET, DCE-MRI and CT/MR volumetric protocols. The qualification requirements are designed to qualify scanners and site imaging capabilities while promoting standardization and harmonization of imaging data in multicenter clinical trials and including a three-year re-evaluation process. UNMC Radiology is qualifying three MRI scanners, three CT scanners and a PET/CT scanner.
Significant research grants:
A total of $1.52 million in federal and industry grants were awarded to department faculty in fiscal year 2011-12. Three grants involved the research of Michael Boska, Ph.D.:
Core Grant: Neural Immunity in HIV Dementia – PI: Howard Gendelman, M.D., UNMC
Core B Title: Quantitative MRI/MRSI Core – PI: Dr. Boska
The purpose of this core is to develop quantitative imaging (relaxometry) and spectroscopic imaging databases for mouse models of HIV encephalitis and Alzheimer’s disease in order to provide non-invasive real time assessment of disease progression in mouse models of neuronal disease. Coregistration of MRI/MRSI data with histology obtained from the same mice will provide interpretation of changes in proton metabolites, T1, T2, ADC and magnetization transfer rates during disease progression.
Core Grant: Targeted neuroprotection for HIV-1 associated neurologic disease (HAND) – PI: Harris Gelbard, M.D., Ph.D., University of Rochester Medical Center
Project 2 – (Co-PI: Drs. Boska & Gendelman)
The project serves to support works at the University of Rochester seeking to determine the immune mechanisms responsible for HIV-1 dementia. Drugs that affect pathways for neuronal destruction will be studied. The overall goals are to design rational therapeutic strategies to ameliorate HAND and rapidly bring promising agents to Phase-I trials in a well-defined cohort of patients at risk for disease.
Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine (COBRE) – Co-Investigator – Dr. Boska
The goal of this grant is to develop an interdisciplinary Nanomedicine Center at UNMC, including a team of scientists with expertise in nanomedicine, drug delivery, therapeutics and diagnostics, as well as biochemists, pharmacologists, immunologists and neuroscientists. All will work, with a singular focus, to develop the means to best use devices of nanoscale size to improve outcomes for cancer and degenerative diseases.