# University of Michigan Quantitative Co-Clinical Imaging Research Resource

> **NIH NIH U24** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $627,953

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Quantitative imaging methods to detect cancer and assess response to therapy are cornerstones of pre-clinical
drug development, clinical trials, and patient care. Success of quantitative imaging in oncology relies on
standardization of protocols for image acquisition and analysis to ensure reproducibility within a single site over
time and across institutions for multi-site clinical trials. Work by our group and others in the Quantitative Imaging
Network and Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers Alliance continues to advance standardization procedures for
clinical imaging. However, similar rigor has not been applied to pre-clinical imaging studies of cancer therapy in
mice. The disconnect between standardization and validation methods incorporated into imaging studies for
humans versus mice contributes to ongoing challenges with reproducibility in drug development and successful
translation of new drugs to clinical medicine. To ensure direct, quantitative comparisons between pre-clinical and
clinical imaging, we will establish a resource for quantitative MRI of bone marrow composition and architecture
in myelofibrosis (MF), a chronic hematologic cancer marked by progressive fibrosis and destruction of bone
marrow. This resource will extend quantitative imaging into hematologic cancers, a group of malignancies
understudied and underserved by imaging because current methods generate largely qualitative data that cannot
be used reliably as biomarkers for response to therapy. We will analyze key metrics of bone marrow disease
using FDA-approved MRI sequences included in standard software packages for pre-clinical 7T and clinical 3T
scanners: 1) bone marrow composition and cellularity (quantitative Dixon technique for fat/water); 2) replacement
of normal bone marrow cells and bone trabecula (mobility of water (diffusion, DWI)); and 3) extent and severity
of fibrosis (magnetization transfer (MT)). As part of standardization procedures for both mouse and human
imaging, we will measure repeatability of imaging data using phantoms for each MRI sequence and test/retest
imaging procedures for mouse and human subjects to establish confidence intervals. We also will standardize
workflow for quantifying bone marrow MRI data with parametric response mapping (PRM), a voxel-wise image
processing method we devised to capture spatial and temporal heterogeneity of imaging data during treatment.
After establishing standard operating procedures for quantitative bone marrow MRI (Aim 1), we will apply these
methods to co-clinical trials with standard-of-care and investigational therapies for MF, matching driver mutations
for MF present in our patient population with our mouse model (Aim 2). To disseminate these methods to the
imaging community, we will post standard operating procedures for MRI protocols, mouse models of MF, and
PRM of bone marrow MRI data (Aim 3). We also will deposit curated imaging data in the TCIA, enabling other
investigators to ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10217050
- **Project number:** 5U24CA237683-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** THOMAS L CHENEVERT
- **Activity code:** U24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $627,953
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10217050

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10217050, University of Michigan Quantitative Co-Clinical Imaging Research Resource (5U24CA237683-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10217050. Licensed CC0.

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