ACR Co-led MIDRC Included in National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) launched the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot, including participation of the American College of Radiology® (ACR®) co-led Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC). NAIRR is a cross-federal agency initiative, partnering with 10 other federal agencies, and collaborating with the private, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. The pilot is a first step toward achieving a shared research infrastructure that will strengthen and democratize access to critical resources necessary to power responsible artificial intelligence (AI) discovery and innovation. Included in the NAIRR Secure focus area, MIDRC will provide access to two networks of data, including the ACR COVID-19 Imaging Research Registry™ made up of more than 84,000 imaging studies and data from 37,000 patients.

The NAIRR pilot will provide advanced computing, datasets, models, software, training and user-support access to U.S.-based researchers and educators. Researchers can discover and apply for initial access to NAIRR pilot resources through the NAIRR pilot portal.

There are four focus areas of the NAIRR pilot:

• NAIRR Open — will enable open AI research through access to diverse AI resources via the NAIRR pilot portal and coordinated allocations.  
• NAIRR Secure — co-led by National Institutes of Health and U.S. Department of Energy, will enable AI research requiring privacy and security-preserving resources and will assemble exemplar privacy preserving resources.   
• NAIRR Software — will facilitate and investigate inter-operable use of AI software, platforms, tools and services for NAIRR pilot resources.  
• NAIRR Classroom — will reach new communities through education, training, user support and outreach.  

For more information, contact Katie Grady, ACR Government Affairs Director.