# Core D: Translational Imaging Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $153,147

## Abstract

Project Summary 
The purpose of the Translational Imaging Core (TIC) for the proposed Kidney Cancer SPORE program is 
to provide investigators in this program with the technical expertise to perform high quality imaging 
experiments; to facilitate standardized imaging protocols that allow for easier and more reliable correlation 
between results of pre-clinical and clinical imaging experiments; to provide consistent expertise in the 
interpretation of imaging results; and to facilitate storage and retrieval of imaging data. The primary 
functions of the TIC are to perform magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and Positron Emission Tomography 
(PET) assessments of response to treatments in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), to provide 
imaging methods for mechanistic assessment of targeted therapy in tumor models, and to provide an 
image-based platform to guide and optimize tissue procurement through an appreciation of tumor traits 
and heterogeneity. Multiple MR imaging and PET techniques will be analyzed in order to maximize the 
chances of detecting subtle changes in tumor characteristics and response to therapy. Imaging data will be 
integrated with data generated from the Biospecimen and Pathology Resources (CORE B) and the Data 
Analytics (CORE C) cores into the Kidney Cancer Explorer (accessible through the web portal 
http://qbrc.swmed.edu/projects/kidneyspore/) to ensure SPORE investigators have a unified view of these 
data. Lastly, the TIC will provide a ‘one stop shop’ solution to SPORE investigators for imaging data 
storage and analysis both for pre-clinical experiments and human clinical trials with an integrated web- 
based Picture Archive and Communication Systems (PACS) and a software solution for image an alysis. 
The efforts of the TIC will translate into the development of quantitative imaging protocols that are readily 
available for use in clinical practice. These imaging protocols will be applicable at other institutions and will 
generate data that is currently not available in patients with kidney cancer. If successful, these protocols 
will allow for a change in the current management of kidney cancer patients that is based on quantitative, 
objective imaging data.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9990727
- **Project number:** 5P50CA196516-05
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Ivan Pedrosa
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $153,147
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9990727

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9990727, Core D: Translational Imaging Core (5P50CA196516-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9990727. Licensed CC0.

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