Turn Your Ideas Into Practice-Changing Research

For many ACR members, the ACR Center for Research and Innovation™ (CRI) is best known for its legacy of high-impact clinical trials, its legacy through ACRIN® and its longstanding partnerships with ECOG-ACRIN, RTOG Foundation and IROC. 

Today, the CRI is much more than a clinical-trials center. It’s a full-service research partner dedicated to helping members turn promising ideas into practice-changing research.

For members who have a research concept but are not sure how to move it forward, CRI provides the infrastructure, expertise, contract research organization (CRO) services and partnerships needed to make the next step possible. 

From study design and funding strategy to trial operations, imaging interpretation as well as data management and dissemination, the CRI is a one-stop resource for imaging research.

More Than a Research Center

At its core, the CRI serves as a bridge between clinicians, researchers, industry and funders. It provides the infrastructure, expertise and connections needed to bring complex imaging studies to life.

That includes support at every stage, from early-stage concept development to study execution, data analysis and publication support. For members, this means you don’t have to build everything from scratch — you can plug into an established system.

The CRI offers support in areas such as:

• Study design and protocol development
• Clinical trial operations and site management
• Data collection, imaging analysis and statistical support
• Regulatory navigation and contracting
• Manuscript development and dissemination]

A Track Record That Speaks for Itself

The CRI is built on a foundation of landmark trials that shape clinical practice, influence policy and advance patient care, including but not limited to:

• Digital Mammography Imaging Screening Trial (DMIST): Established digital mammography as the standard for breast cancer detection, accelerating the transition from film to digital
  
• National Lung Screening Trial (NLST): Established the life-saving effectiveness of low-dose CT lung cancer screening, reducing lung cancer mortality in high-risk populations by 30% 
  
• Investigation of Serial Studies to Predict Your Therapeutic Response (I-SPY): Transformed breast cancer imaging research by using serial MRI and imaging biomarkers to monitor tumor response, enabling more adaptive, personalized treatment strategies
  
• EA8171 trial: Tested multiparametric MRI to improve staging and treatment planning for newly diagnosed prostate cancer, particularly by identifying aggressive disease
  
• Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST): Evaluated next-generation breast screening, 3D tomosynthesis, in comparison to 2D digital mammography, to determine which patients benefit most and to build a large imaging dataset for risk-tailored screening
  
• Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS Study) and Alzheimer’s Network for Treatment and Diagnostics (ALZ-NET): Expanded radiology’s role in Alzheimer’s disease by proving the clinical value of amyloid PET for diagnosis and management and by building real-world imaging and safety evidence to support emerging anti-amyloid therapies

Together, these studies have shaped screening guidelines, reimbursement policies, imaging technologies and clinical pathways that improve patient care. For ACR members, CRI is paving the way for the future by facilitating groundbreaking research. It also offers a way to contribute to high-impact research, collaborate with expert partners and bring new research ideas to life.

Getting Involved With CRI Research

CRI creates pathways for members at all stages of their professional careers to apply their expertise in meaningful and professionally rewarding ways. Opportunities include:

• Serving as a reader or consultant on imaging trials, often with compensation
• Contributing to protocol development or advisory work
• Site participation for a trial, registry or imaging network

These roles help advance the field while also providing members with professional visibility, new collaborations and additional income streams.

Support for Getting Research Funded

For members interested in leading studies, funding is often one of the biggest barriers. CRI, in collaboration with the ACR Commission on Research and programs such as the Research Accelerator Program, helps members move promising ideas toward fundable projects.

Members can work with the CRI and research commission to:

• Refine research concepts
  
• Identify funding opportunities
  
• Develop competitive grant applications
  
• Connect with potential sponsors and collaborators

The goal is to help promising ideas move efficiently from concept to funded research.

Amplifying Your Work

Completing a study is only part of the research process. Ensuring that findings reach the right audiences is equally important.

ACR provides multiple channels to help members share and promote their work, including:

• Opportunities to present at ACR meetings and summits
  
• Publication support through ACR-affiliated platforms
  
• Visibility through ACR communications and media

These resources ensure that important findings reach clinicians, researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders who can put them into practice.

A Pathway Worth Exploring

Through participation in ACR research committees and CRI-supported projects, members can:

• Collaborate with leading experts across subspecialties
  
• Contribute to multicenter, high-visibility studies
  
• Participate in industry-sponsored research and reader studies
  
• Build relationships with academic, federal and commercial partners
  
• Leverage ACR technical infrastructure to support their own research

For many members, these experiences and connections open the door to new opportunities within and beyond radiology while helping advance their careers and the field.

With the CRI, ACR members have access to the tools, partnerships and support needed to move ideas forward — and to help shape the next generation of research that will define the future of radiology.