ACRIN® Fund Charts Its Course
The ACRIN® campaign has secured over $7.2 million in pledges to augment the impact of the clinical trials being conducted for diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapies. Since the ACR Annual Meeting, the leaders of the ACR and ACRIN® have been meeting with industry leaders from key donors to the ACRIN® Fund to strengthen the relationships between the organizations and better determine how both parties can maximize this relationship. Executive Director Harvey L. Neiman, MD, ACR Board members and staff, and ACRIN® leaders have recently met with the senior leadership of Agfa Healthcare Americas, Hitachi Medical Systems, and Bracco Diagnostics. ³The relationships we are developing and new funding being provided by industry is a key component to the ongoing success of high quality and relevant imaging research,² states Steve King, ACR assistant executive director of ACR¹s Philadelphia office.
Can I Still Give to The ACRIN® Fund?
Yes! It is not too late to make a gift to this special campaign. Donors will be recognized in a final ACRIN® Fund newsletter and on the ACR and ACRIN® Web sites. ACRIN® will also recognize donors in its own publications.
Pledges can still be made by completing a pledge form online at www.acr.org or www.acrin.org, sending an e-mail to the Campaign Office at acrinfund@acr.org, or by calling the ACRIN® Fund Campaign Office at (703) 715-3489.
ACRIN Fund Seeks Member Gifts by Annual Meeting – Give Today!
The ACRIN Fund for Imaging Innovation is planning a major announcement about the success of its fundraising at the ACR Annual Meeting and Leadership Conference on May 22. To date, we have received tremendous support from members of the Board of Chancellors, Council Steering Committee and campaign volunteers with $200,000 in pledges. We hope the more than 30,000 ACR members will answer our call for their philanthropic, tax-deductible support! Gifts can be made as a one-time gift, but the impact of a five-year commitment has enable us to make the great strides we have this far. For example, an annual gift of $500 will be a $2,500 pledge when spread over five years. If even a few thousand of our members responded with a gift, our membership can reach its goal of $1,000,000 in individual gifts. You can send us an e-mail with your decision at acrinfund@acr.org or click here to affirm your commitment to our profession and make a pledge today!
For a complete list of donors to the ACRIN Fund, please click here.
"When people ask why Siemens is supporting ACRIN, I remind them that we are both frequently working toward a similar goal – providing the best we can for the people we serve. For radiologists, those are their patients. For companies, it is our customers. Ultimately, we can help each other achieve new heights by working together rather than separately."
Thomas N. McCausland, President & CEO
Siemens Medical Solutions USA
ACRIN Fund Campaign Chariman
In 2005, the American College of Radiology (ACR) launched a special fundraising initiative to raise philanthropic funds to support the work of the ACR Imaging Network (ACRIN). The ACRIN Fund for Imaging Innovation established a minimum goal of $5,000,000 to address the need for greater support for clinical trials and provide ACRIN a solid financial footing for the future. The campaign is chaired by Siemens Medical Solutions USA President & CEO Thomas N. McCausland and involves many of the ACR's top volunteer leaders and staff. To read more about the recent success of the campaign, click here.
ACRIN was established seven years ago through funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and is dedicated to conducting clinical cancer trials of diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapeutic technologies. ACRIN provides an infrastructure for conducting clinical trials that has never before been available in support of radiology. In this short time, as the first all-digital, multicenter imaging research network, ACRIN has conducted 23 clinical trials, including two major screening trials that recruited more than 70,000 participants. In fact, the results of the DMIST (Digital Mammographic Imaging Screeening Trial) released last fall appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine and was covered in more than 100 media outlets. To read more, go to www.nejm.org.
ACRIN's research provides an extraordinary benefit to ACR members and all of radiology by validating innovative imaging techniques for future use and reimbursement. Given the constant challenges facing the radiology profession, the success of the type of research conducted by ACRIN to develop and demonstrate the benefit of innovations in treatment and diagnostic care is absolutely vital. It is clear that the types of clinical trials pursued by ACRIN will provide more acceptable evidence in support of the College's efforts to secure reimbursement for new clinical practices than typical, single institutional observational studies. To see why some of your colleagues and industry leaders are investing their money in this critically important project, click here.